Mr. Speaker, this amendment is very important. Obviously, we want to demonstrate that a person who obtains citizenship has a special connection to Canada. That is the first thing. I also think that, when someone of legal age is seeking to acquire citizenship, requiring them to speak one of the two official languages should not even be a question. There are countries where knowing the language is mandatory in order to obtain citizenship, so I believe the work that we did was tough, but perfectly reasonable.
Again, why do people even need to be compelled to learn the national language, which is French in Quebec, before becoming a citizen living in Quebec? At the Bloc Québécois, we take things further. We think that when someone has an address in Quebec and they want to obtain citizenship, they should be fluent in French. As things stand, in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, it is not even a requirement. A person need only to be fluent in English to become a Canadian citizen, even if they live in Quebec. It makes no sense because French is the official language of Quebec.