Mr. St-Cyr, the IRB is a quasi-judicial body. It made a decision on the language of proceedings that was upheld by the Federal Court following legal action by Mr. Bolanos Blanco's lawyer.
The reason why the government took this position is exactly because it wants to protect the interests of Canadian taxpayers. Imagine, if lawyers could decide, at any moment, to change the language of the proceeding, compelling us to translate all the documents that were accepted in the original language of the proceeding, the cost would be incalculable. It could amount to tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in translation costs for taxpayers. The Federal Court and the IRB said that, if the lawyer and the client agree to a language of the proceeding, documents in that language are acceptable. That is the law, and I think that it is in the best interest of Quebec and Canadian taxpayers.