Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much, Marie-Claude, for your testimony and your suggestion, which I briefly discussed with my colleague Ms. Jennings. To begin with, we find it interesting. I had not considered the option of only allowing judges who understand the official languages used to sit at a hearing. I find it an interesting idea that we could pursue, perhaps as an amendment to this bill.
On this point, I did note that the Law Society of New Brunswick supports the bill and does not object to it being passed, but with an amendment which I find rather interesting. However, what will you say to those who say that because an individual decides to proceed in French, for instance, he or she would not benefit from having nine or seven judges but would only have five. On any case of great moment, heard by the Supreme Court, nine judges will sit and rule.
I understand that legally speaking, a panel of five judges may have exactly the same decision-making power as a larger panel, but would this not in some way lead to a two-tier appeal system? To be realistic, if individuals decide to proceed in English, they will benefit from having nine judges, but those deciding to go ahead in French may only have five or seven judges.
Do you not find this puts those who choose to proceed in one official language rather than the other at a disadvantage?