>Canada is officially bi-lingual. English and French. If you speak one official language you must learn the other in school up to a certain grade (11?).

Didn't know that french was mandatory in other provinces.

>Federal government works in both languages. Federal government services are required by law to be offered in both languages.
>
>Quebec is French, with parts of New Brunswick and some small communities elsewhere.

I should add mostly french. In Montreal and in the west part of the province, french is in minority.

>My guess is that the average Quebecer speaks better English and than the average English Canadian speaks French.

Agree here. Most Canadians businesses can live without Quebec, but many Quebec businesses can't live without Canadians and Americans.

>Also the average English Canadian speaks French as well as the average American speaks Spanish, most likely.
>
>Why does Quebec speak French? Both England and France colonized the northern part of North America (in the same way the Spanish and English did with the southern part). English speaking people managed to conquer the French (I forget exactly how and why). After many years of persecuting them, Canada was formed with he concept of allowing the two cultures an equal share in governing the country.

No, Canada was formed so that only Canadians can persecute us! ;)