It is a great pleasure to have you here with us, and so well prepared.
I believe I understand all of the good reasons why Supreme Court justices should be bilingual. And you must have heard the same criticism we have heard on this position in the past, in that we would be depriving ourselves of a pool of expertise. Indeed, brilliant jurists who could have a career on the Supreme Court would not be appointed to it due to this requirement. Moreover, it would be unfair in a way for these brilliant jurists who, having lived far from central Canada and not having had the opportunity to learn French at a young age, would not have become perfectly bilingual.
I'm certain that before you appeared here, you had considered these arguments, at the Law Society of New Brunswick. What do you say in response to this?