I've gotten an education, you know. I finished my law degree. I wrote my final exam. In fact, I'm still waiting for your congratulations.
Mr. Chairman, this is a motion which I wish to submit to the committee and see passed unanimously. I'll say it again, I would be very hurt if the committee were to be divided on this matter. I would like to point two things out. First off, unlike what Mr. Lee would have you believe, it does not have to do with judges. We know full well that it is not up to us to decide whether judges appointed in British Columbia need to be bilingual. But for strategic positions, where someone would serve as a spokesperson, arbitrate and serve society as a whole, of course we would expect that individual to function at an adequate level in both languages.
I believe the government has developed a bad habit. What I'm saying regarding judges should of course not apply to Supreme Court justices. How disappointed we were to hear that former justice minister Vic Toews' professor had been appointed to the Supreme Court without knowledge of French. The government added insult to injury by appointing a unilingual anglophone as the ombudsman for victims of crime. We are not calling into question his abilities, obviously not, but he is unilingual.
I think it is our duty, as a committee, to clearly establish that for strategic positions, we expect candidates to know both languages. It is not enough to want to learn the second language, they must know both. What would be your reaction, Mr. Chairman, if an appointee were to be a unilingual francophone? I don't think you would accept that. Yet, the Minister for Canadian Heritage does not speak French. That is also the case of several parliamentary secretaries. The situation has deteriorated. These days, when we call cabinet ministers' offices, it is practically a privilege to be able to speak to someone in French.
It is time we put a stop to this. That is why I would expect my motion to be unanimously adopted by this committee. I know that my colleague has already expressed her support and I thank her for it. It is very frustrating for francophones to see that the status of their language is not respected.
I will stop here, but I expect a unanimous vote.