Maybe it's me. Yes, I'll punish myself later.
The result of this was that the interpreter did a very good job. We're dealing with the Supreme Court, and you just said it's the court of last resort. I get this picture that a lawyer must by mid-career decide whether or not he or she wants to be a Supreme Court judge. Many of us here, like me, never thought we'd be members of Parliament until later in life.
I believe we will mature into a bilingual country as time goes by, but we're still a very young country. Some legally gifted people who previously had no desire, compulsion, or thought to become a Supreme Court judge might one day be called upon to serve the country in this capacity—by the Prime Minister, a professor, or a group of people in their law society. The person would be told that he or she was needed at this point in the nation's history. The person would want to accept but would be prevented from doing so by a law restricting service of this kind to people who are functionally bilingual. I think what we need is to encourage good people, not restrict them.
We're politicians. We know we're supposed to care about our country. We need to put the political party things aside at times. We need to ask ourselves whether we're really doing ourselves a favour by locking in these kinds of requirements for service in one of the most precious institutions in this country, the Supreme Court. Do we really, for whatever political gain, want to do this at this time, or do we want to encourage more and more of our sons and daughters to become good lawyers so that someday maybe they will be able to serve their country in the Supreme Court? Do you not see that this could happen?
If I were at a mid-level court in this country and I thought my case was jeopardized by an incompetent interpreter, I would appeal it. I understand that this would be very difficult to do at the Supreme Court, because it's the top court.
These arguments are okay, but they're really not germane to this issue. Do all lawyers, when they go to law school, think of themselves as potential Supreme Court justices? Is it something that could happen later on in someone's career?