Official Languages committee  You have to be a Canadian citizen to be a lawyer.

Official Languages committee  True.

Official Languages committee  Normally, given that a lot of people who appear before us have recently arrived in Canada, they are going to trust the advice their representatives give them.

Official Languages committee  They can be lawyers or, in some cases, consultants.

Official Languages committee  This year, unless I'm mistaken, because I don't have the numbers in front of me, we have had 125 requests.

Official Languages committee  Yes, to change the language. I don't have the percentages for requests from French to English and from English to French.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  Yes. I think you also have a copy of the memorandum that I just spoke about, which was sent to all board employees on June 24, 2009. This memorandum explains the official languages obligations in hearings. The memorandum is the briefing note referred to on page 1. We still need to modify our procedure manuals to take into account the instructions in the briefing note.

Official Languages committee  The information form.

Official Languages committee  As Ms. Cox-Duquette explained and as the Federal Court agreed, that's the documentation that was already submitted and it's already on the record. Let's suppose the procedure started in English. The documentation submitted in English stays in English, even if the language of proceedings changes to French.

Official Languages committee  We are talking about the language chosen by the subject.

Official Languages committee  Sometimes there can be situations where the subject chooses English in Montreal, for example. The reverse can happen in Vancouver. If someone in Montreal chooses English and his lawyer prefers to do presentations before the court in French, we make sure that the subject gets interpretation from French into English.

Official Languages committee  The language issue is dealt with. You have the excerpts that were given to the clerk. All our three divisions have rules that actually address the issue of the language of choice. They clearly indicate that it is up to the subject to choose the language of communication and inform the board as soon as possible.

Official Languages committee  Yes, we are the ones.

Official Languages committee  We do it 48 hours after detention, then seven days later, and again every 30 days.