Official Languages committee  To answer your question, there are various groups. There's one group that comes from immersion. Within that group, there are two ways of thinking. There are some for whom it's simply a question of values or ideology. The group Canadian Parents for French sometimes adopts a solidly “Trudeauist” ideology.

Official Languages committee  There's a particular phenomenon in immersion. These people often speak what we call “Immersionese”, a distinct French that they understand amongst themselves. When they arrive at the Saint-Jean Campus, it's a shock. They have to relearn the language. Is it better? For the reasons mentioned earlier, probably not.

Official Languages committee  I'll give you an example among many others, the example of the textbooks used in our history courses at Saint-Jean Campus. The Canadian history textbook is based on the perspective of the west and the western francophone community. It's not a textbook written in Quebec, from the Quebec perspective.

Official Languages committee  It isn't a significant increase. Fortunately, immigration helps not only maintain, but also increase the number of francophones in absolute terms, although, relatively speaking, the number is declining. The assimilation problem is not something that Franco-Albertans have to be aware of; they experience the reality every day.

Official Languages committee  You're entirely right. The assimilation rate in Alberta is 75%. That means that, if I'm francophone and I have four children, only one of them will remain francophone. Exogamy is probably one of the major reasons for this situation. However, from a relative standpoint, the figures are declining.

Official Languages committee  A distinction should be drawn between formal French and social French. From the standpoint of formal French, there's no difference; it's an international French that is used in Quebec, in France and elsewhere. However, social French differs from region to region. The strategy that the Saint-Jean Campus has adopted, for example, is to have students learn social French not in courses, because they learn formal French there, but in various places and programs outside the courses, where they can learn social French.

Official Languages committee  There are a number. There's the Bélisle, the Robert québécois and a lot of glossaries.

Official Languages committee  An openness to the world is important. It's important for the anglophones in Canada; it shouldn't be less important for francophones in Canada. More and more now, independently of the question of French and English, we're trying to include ideas of globalization. We try not to just focus on specific courses but to have the idea of interculturalism present in all of our courses.

Official Languages committee  You also have to understand that the experience of students today differs to a great extent from what we experienced when we were students. The image of the hard-up student doesn't at all correspond to what they know, at least in Alberta. They go around in cars, go to restaurants.

Official Languages committee  They've got money. A consumer mentality prevails, so that they want to work and make money in the summer. They're very independent. Paid programs work well with them. Back home, employment as an English-language monitor in France, for example, is popular. This kind of work is popular, provided it's paid.

Official Languages committee  In Alberta, we had an in-house test for a number of years. Now we're starting to go to international standards, to international-style tests.

Official Languages committee  I entirely agree. I would add perhaps that this often comes as a cold shower, but that's not necessary. Proceeding gradually is a good idea. At the campus, a lot of francophone students from Quebec eventually want to study in English at the University of Alberta. So they proceed gradually by taking a few courses in French with us, and courses in English.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chairman and members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages. First I would like to thank you for the invitation to attend this meeting. The dean of the Saint-Jean Campus, Professor Marc Arnal, regrets that he could not be here. Today he has to meet with representatives of the Province of Alberta to negotiate funding for the campus.