Justice committee  [Technical difficulties] part XVII, the bilingual capacity of provincial courts is probably the most important element. This does not mean that the bilingual capacity of higher courts is not important, but training judges from the provincial courts is probably the most important

Justice committee  Indeed, the situation varies greatly from one region to the next, and even within provinces. People in certain regions tell us things are going well, that the accused are well aware of their rights. In other regions, this is much less the case. The situation greatly varies. It is

Justice committee  I agree with my colleague. Because the judge is an authority figure, he has a certain credibility. If a judge tells the accused that he has the right to proceed in English or in French, I personally believe that that meets the active offer requirement. It's a bit like a school pr

Justice committee  In some provinces, working groups or joint groups have links or discussions with the Minister of Justice. Discussions don't necessarily deal with implementing part XVII, strictly speaking, but issues of access to justice in which part XVII is raised in one way or another. These d

Justice committee  Yes, we will have to work out the kinks in video conferencing. Furthermore, many students in immersion go on to law school, namely out west. That's one example I can give you. As a result, the shortage of bilingual people will become less of a problem in the future. The bilingu

Justice committee  Yes, we are familiar with that. The member of our federation who is part of the Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario participated significantly in this study, as did Mr. Paul LeVay as president of the same association. We are aware of what is happening in

Justice committee  I know a model that is used here, in Manitoba. Because I come from this province, I am probably more familiar with what is being done here. In the provincial court, we have added a key aspect to the judge's checklist. From now on, at the first appearance, judges must advise the a

Justice committee  We hear that question often. Criminal lawyers have told us that there are problems with court interpreters in some provinces. It varies from one province to another. In some cases, the employees or the court interpreters are well trained. They are provincial employees, be it at

Justice committee  Yes. I think that the jurilinguistic centre at the University of Moncton offers some training and that it is primarily provided in New Brunswick as well as in the eastern regions of the country. An interpretation master's program was set up at Glendon College, in Toronto. That ma

Justice committee  Various methods have, in fact, been proposed and used. I am aware of a case in Nova Scotia, I believe, a few years ago. Because they had not targeted the francophone population, through a school board or another means, they had to ask approximately 900 people, or practically the

Justice committee  Thank you. That question has already been raised in some provinces. I know that Manitoba and British Columbia have looked into making up these juries. Each province uses different means. Manitoba, for example, uses health insurance card numbers to make up a list. The issue is to