I don't want to dwell on this at length, but I simply must respond to Mr. Petit's comments and take apart his arguments one by one.
I have 30 years of experience as a lawyer and I have argued cases in front of courts of all kinds, even the Supreme Court. I can assure you that if you are arguing a case in front of the Supreme Court, and are speaking quickly in French or having an exchange with another justice—the Hon. Justice LeBel, for example—the Right Hon. Justice Beverley McLachlin will have no choice but to interrupt you and ask you to slow down, because the interpreter is unable to follow. That is something I have the utmost respect for.
I could cite dozens of examples for Mr. Petit and colleagues opposite. There is not one lawyer anywhere in Canada who knows, the day he is sworn in, whether he may one day become a Supreme Court justice. That is impossible. If someone right here at this table or somewhere else tells me that, one day, he will be appointed to the Supreme Court, well, he is lying. An appointment to the Supreme Court is the pinnacle of a legal career. One is called to the Supreme Court. Let me draw a parallel here: it is like being chosen to be the next pope. Very few people could even think that, one day, they might be appointed to the Supreme Court.
However, with all due respect for Mr. Petit, I know of no judge in Quebec who is unable to conduct a trial in French and in English. I know that because, as Bâtonnier for my region, I sat on committees looking at judicial candidates. As soon as you get to the level of the Court of Quebec and the Youth Division, judicial candidates are asked whether they are able to speak and understand English.
So, I must say I am a little surprised to hear today that Supreme Court justices may not be able to follow a debate without the assistance of interpreters. In my opinion, this is a very good bill which will have repercussions—I readily admit that. An appointment is made to the Supreme Court only once every five or ten years. People who aspire to be appointed to the Supreme Court will have to start preparing now. The evidence was clear when the last appointment was made. No one, in Quebec or elsewhere, said that the justice who has just been appointed, and whose name escapes me for the moment, understands French. He may be able to follow a conversation or an exchange, but we believe—and I am saying this on behalf of Quebec—that an example has to be set at the top, so that it is possible to argue a case in both languages at the Supreme Court. Exchanges will be greatly facilitated as a result.
With all due respect for the Hon. Justice Major—and heaven knows, having argued a case in front of him, I have a great deal of respect for him—there is one thing he didn't say, and that is that during the sessions where Supreme Court justices get together to discuss cases—they meet as a group of nine or seven, depending on the bench that will be hearing the case—their discussions take place in English 92% of the time, because the majority of cases that come before the Supreme Court are obviously cases from English Canada. I say that with the utmost respect.
I see no problem in passing this bill, through which a good example will be set. Candidates who aspire to an appointment to the Supreme Court now have 5, 10 or even 15 years to prepare. If this bill passes, they will have 15 years to prepare themselves.
I was listening to Justice Beverley McLachlin. She is an anglophone who took immersion in Quebec, in the Lac-Saint-Jean area. I would have invited her over for a conversation in French. She would be perfectly capable of holding such a conversation, as would eight of the nine current justices.
In my opinion, this is a non-debate, a non-issue, and we need to send a clear signal. That's why I invite all of you to support this bill.