Justice committee  I was just thinking of perhaps some conflict-of-interest issues, because the commissioner has the power to bring cases to court when the federal institutions do not comply with the Official Languages Act. Also, we do intervene in charter cases, so it may raise some issues about the possibility of administering this program in an independent manner.

Justice committee  I would add, to complete your answer, that there was a case in Quebec some years ago involving the government's decision to amalgamate municipalities. There was a challenge based on section 16 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This is often the section of the charter that is raised in matters involving provincial or municipal jurisdictions.

Official Languages committee  In fact, as I said earlier, the preamble helps clearly define the scope of the bill and thus in fact guides the decision of the Governor in Council where it decides to add, by order, additional offices to the list of 10 offices set out in the bill.

Official Languages committee  Yes, I did say that.

Official Languages committee  Pardon me, but I did not understand the end of your question.

Official Languages committee  Thank you very much. Unfortunately, I am not a legal drafter or an expert in the drafting of statutes. So I am not in a position to offer an opinion on how a legislator should or should not name the positions set out in clause 2. I understand your point of view on the matter of the feminization of terminology, but unfortunately I do not at all have the expertise to answer your question.

Official Languages committee  My answer would be that as a lawyer I don't know what else I could add to what Mr. Fraser just said. I would only say that a preamble is not necessary, but it provides information about the scope of the bill. Also, it provides directions to the Governor in Council. If the Governor in Council adopts regulations to add some position, then the preamble circumscribes the discretion of the government as to the position it would like to add to the list of the 10 positions.

Official Languages committee  The purpose of the study under way is to examine the bilingual capacity of the judiciary in the superior courts across the country. The study will deal with two issues, namely the judicial appointment process and the language training given to judges in superior courts. I would like to add a comment to the case that you brought to the attention of the commissioner and that we concluded that we would not be able to investigate.

Official Languages committee  I am not aware of any such acts, but there may be some.