Official Languages committee  Obviously, francophones outside Quebec, individuals from these communities and political spokespersons, etc., cannot view Quebec's sovereignty as something that would be to their advantage. Quebec's sovereignty would certainly reduce the political and symbolic place that French occupies throughout Canada and in the long run it would have very harmful effects.

Official Languages committee  However, from a strictly sociological perspective, some say that nothing much would change because things are going badly. We have to say that that is somewhat true west of the Ottawa Valley. What is striking—this is linked to the value attached to French in the Canadian public domain—is that francophones outside Quebec west of the Ottawa Valley coming from Acadia, for example, become assimilated at the same rate as immigrants and Franco-Americans.

Official Languages committee  First, I would suggest that we move from Canada's legal linguistic framework to a language planning policy. Thirty years of bilingualism in Canada have not resulted in any language planning policy on our territory. I think we have spent too much time attempting to give legal recognition to both languages, to establish their equality, rather than to plan their use.

Official Languages committee  Thank you for inviting me. I am happy to be here. I must tell you, however, that my specialty is not demographics. I am interested in matters relating to identity, language and policy. I will be brief. I would like to wait for your questions in order to provide more details. Léon Dion, who was a political scientist at Laval University and who, coincidentally or accidentally, was the father of someone whom you know quite well...

Official Languages committee  Mr. Léon Dion often said that through Canada's bilingualism policy, there had been a diversion away from the recommendations that were made by the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, also known as the B & B Commission, during the 1960s. This commission took great care in making a number of recommendations to enhance the use and development of the French language in Canada, so that it would become more dynamic.