Good afternoon, Your Honour.
Let me to share my personal experience. I went to the Supreme Court of Canada. I was not presenting arguments but I was accompanying a colleague who was presenting arguments under the Young Offenders Act.
I am certain that what you answered earlier to Mr. Storseth's first question was perfectly valid but I simply want you to know how a lawyer feels when they go to the Supreme Court of Canada. It's not every day that one goes to the Supreme Court of Canada and when you do go, it's because you are pleading a very important case.
For my point of view, it's not only being heard that is important, it is being understood. From that perspective, I have some difficulty with respect to judges who cannot follow what is being said in French, for example. It could be during exchanges with Justice Lamer or any other attending judge. You know how these things work because you have considerable experience, which I don't deny. It's about what is important for us.
The reality is often different. Our clients wonder why the judge does not understand what is being said, why they need interpretation, when we've always presented our arguments in courts where it was possible to present them before perfectly bilingual judges.
You understand that it is important for many groups to have the feeling that they're being heard and understood. Being heard is different from being understood. The distinction is important to us. Judges on the Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court, must be able to understand us in the French language, the language we express ourselves in, whether the case is being heard at the first, second or highest level.