Originally Posted by
Sjoerd
...And what about tourists? Make them all take an English test before being allowed on a plane to Canada? Make all Canadians study Mandarin before allowing them on a flight to Beijing? ...
Immigrating to Canada, and just visiting, are two completely different things. As we have found out having to absorb immigrants who don't speak one of the two official languages is costly and disruptive. There's a "white flight" in YVR of children into French Immersion schools. It is not the result of a burning desire to learn French, its to get their kids out of schools where they're being held up by those new arrivals who can't even speak English, let alone learn in it.