Great.
Coming back to my motion, what I want to emphasize is that it's also very important to have enough time to hear from all witnesses. The last witnesses we received, who represented the francophone and Acadian communities, raised some vital points, so it's not just for Quebec.
I think the Quebec government is the only one that prepared a document outlining its position. Essentially, Quebec wants to be in charge of language planning on its territory, because it's the only majority French-speaking region in Canada and North America. Its document says that we need to recognize that Quebec is the primary homeland of francophones in Canada.
If Quebec is weakened, all francophone and Acadian communities will be weakened too, because Quebec also provides teachers and staff for other regions. Many Quebeckers go work outside Quebec. It's also the main market for the francophone and Acadian communities, especially in the arts sector. There are many great artists from francophone and Acadian communities, like Kevin Parent.
The latest statistics show that more and more francophones are becoming anglicized in Quebec. That's very troubling. Even though some significant progress has been made in terms of integrating allophones into francophone society, that progress is levelling off.
That progress is largely attribuable to the Cullen-Couture agreement on immigration, which allows Quebec to choose its own foreign workers. Because of this, it has been able to choose more “francotrope” immigrants, meaning people from countries that are part of La Francophonie or who speak Latin languages, like Latino-Americans. These people are easily able to learn French and integrate into Quebec society. That has been a major factor.
The other factor has been Bill 101 and its education provisions. Bill 101 is the Quebec's single greatest contribution to inclusion, because it has brought children from all backgrounds together by sending them to the same schools. Since then, many more allophones have become familiar with French and Quebec. This has also made it possible for Quebec children to become accustomed to living alongside immigrants. That is hugely important, because there needs to be openness on both sides, if we want to promote integration.
The problem is that the federal government has interfered in all kinds of ways. One of the things that the Quebec government is requesting is a demand that comes up frequently, namely that the Official Languages Act recognize that, of the two official languages, the French language is the only minority language throughout Canada.
Since the creation of the Bloc Québécois, we have often stood up to say that the francophone and Acadian communities and Quebec's anglophone community are in totally different positions. From the beginning, Quebec's anglophone community has really been an elite group among Canada's anglophones, and its institutions have been dominant and overfunded. I'm talking about schools, hospitals, universities and so on.
During the 1960s, the Quebec government tried to take action in the education sector. There was a commission on education, the Parent commission's report and a commission on language. It was a pivotal moment. That was when the CEGEP system was set up, along with the Université du Québec network. Graduation rates among francophones were lower. Progress has been made, but the fight is far from over.
The fact that the federal government sees Quebec's anglophones as a minority equivalent to the francophone and Acadian communities has always been criticized. I once read an editorial written by Lise Bissonnette, back in 1977, I think, where she said it makes no sense to use the same criteria. Quebec's anglophones are nothing like the francophone and Acadian communities. She said that maybe Quebec's anglophones should be paying for francophones outside Quebec. I'm not repeating her suggestion, but that was a spontaneous reaction to the situation.
I agree that it makes no sense. In a way, it's helped perpetuate the privilege that Quebec's anglophones have enjoyed since the days of British colonialism. After 1763, all kinds of things happened in Quebec. At one point, French schools were no longer even getting funding—