Official Languages committee  I think we should make sure to recognize the event or those figures, and let various stakeholders within the system—for instance, people working in our museums and schools, our professors, our historians and researchers—talk honestly and truthfully about those figures, and not only spread propaganda.

Official Languages committee  As I mentioned earlier, the best idea, in my opinion, would be to create opportunities to allow young people in schools to interact with other youngsters in the other official language. Technology makes that possible. Using a big screen, young people could speak both languages. In conversing with others, they could use what they have learned in their second language.

Official Languages committee  I'm going to start from the recommendation and go backwards, if that's possible, as opposed to explaining why, because I know Mr. Dion wants to get the recommendation. Again, I want to reiterate that we didn't come here to ask for resources. When you mentioned resources, I didn't think that was the mandate here, so I don't want to sort of tie the recommendation idea to a request for resources.

Official Languages committee  First of all, there is a difficult issue which is that education is a matter of provincial jurisdiction. That is not necessarily a problem, but it is a reality. However, certain technologies are available. For instance, I made a suggestion in a paper I wrote quite recently. With the help of Skype, we can twin schools, that is to say an English-language school with a French-language school, in order to allow young people to communicate directly amongst themselves.

Official Languages committee  Yes. I have spoken fairly frequently in the media about my disappointment with the rate of bilingualism in the national capital. A week ago, I shared a fairly detailed report in the Ottawa Citizen, and four weeks previously, I shared another fairly detailed report. I am disappointed with the lack of progress that has been made here.

Official Languages committee  I would wholeheartedly agree with that. If I may, I will add that, at the association, we have always tried to bring together the diverse opinions surrounding the difficult issues in our history. If we cannot do that, we risk transforming our history into propaganda. I hope that will not be the case, whatever the commemoration may be.

Official Languages committee  I would like to raise another point—

Official Languages committee  Mr. Godin, if you'll let me, I would like to raise another point—

Official Languages committee  Yes, yes—

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Julie. I would like to quickly talk about the results of the surveys we have conducted on various aspects of identity issues in Canada, including bilingualism, official languages and the public's knowledge of Canada's history. Since time does not permit me to go into detail, I will only make a few comments, and let you look at the presentation and the survey results, including those related to linguistic duality.

Official Languages committee  I have something in PowerPoint.

Official Languages committee  No.

Official Languages committee  Yes, we have seen extraordinary progress among anglophones in the past 30 years when it comes to bilingualism. That's for sure. I'm talking here about French as a second language. Around 85% of young anglophones say they can speak French. I'm not talking about the quality of the French they speak, but the fact that they can communicate in French.

Official Languages committee  I will provide you with a study that has data on that. In any event, the region a person lives in is a major factor. Indeed, it has a strong influence on language choices. The territorial concentration of a given group is a factor, but more often than not, if the mother is francophone—but once again, it depends on the region—the child's first language will in general be French, except in regions where there are virtually no francophones.

Official Languages committee  My children are in an immersion program in Quebec. I think that they have made very good progress in learning a second language. Naturally contact is also important, in other words it is not enough to learn a language in a classroom, you also have to interact with people from that other language group.