I apologize for changing my mind.
Mr. Chairman, in answer to the point raised by Mr. Godin, I don't speak French very well—that is clear—but I believe I fully understood everything that was said in French today, as well as what Mr. Godin said, with the assistance of translation.
Second, I am somewhat mortified that we are considering a bill of this nature without anyone's referring to the primary role of the Supreme Court of Canada, which is a unifying role. The Supreme Court of Canada is a national institution that exists to unify laws across Canada. It is, in that sense, completely dissimilar to provincial courts of appeal. For my part, at least, that unifying role of the Supreme Court of Canada is so important that I would suggest it will not be accomplished effectively by excluding large segments of our population from eligibility on the basis of ordinary linguistic proficiency.
I really do feel strongly that this issue involves not just the question of the rights of litigants, who would be well served by a court of nine justices who will have varying degrees of proficiency in either language but who together will be able to yield sufficient justice to all litigants, and that we should not consider the overarching question of making this an inclusive court.
Thank you.