Among other arguments that we hear, there is the fact that some people get eliminated. This means that a unilingual person could not be appointed to the Supreme Court. I do not think that we can find a single unilingual francophone appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada since it began to exist.
This is my argument: the Supreme Court, which is a court of justice, was not created so that judges can be appointed, it was created for the purpose of rendering justice to citizens.
Thirty-three million people live in Canada, how many lawyers and judges have we in Canada? Can we not find among them nine judges who speak both official languages? If our government is sincere with regard to respecting both official languages and recognizing them in every part of our country, how could it fail to find nine persons who are capable of functioning in both languages?
And I would like to add the following:
At the official languages committee, the University of Toronto said they support it, and as soon as it passes, they will tell lawyers who want to be judges and start training them in the other language. But they say they don't have to do it because they don't have to have it.
This shows that society is already preparing for that. Academic institutions say that they will be ready, as soon as the legislation comes into force, to offer language training. The next appointment will be made in some four or five years. Just think of all the time that we have to get prepared! My bill clearly shows that this is not a thing of the past; it has to do with the future and with future appointments.
Moreover, the Supreme Court was established in order to provide justice to Canadians, and not simply for appointing judges.