Justice Committee on Dec. 4th, 2017

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Housefather]

That comment, which as chair I want to highlight, reminds me of how important past governments and the current government have been to this non-partisan process of appointments of Supreme Court judges, whereby people from all parties can be confident in the nomination of a justice. Look at what happens south of the border any time somebody is nominated to the Supreme Court. As a Canadian, I am very proud of this kind of non-partisan process that past justice ministers and the current justice minister have brought to us.

Mr. MacGregor.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

As a proud Vancouver Islander, I appreciate the recognition earlier of British Columbians' travel woes. It is a big deal for justices who live in our sunny climes to come to this city. That's a big recognition that we have to give to this process.

I was very pleased to hear that you personally found that the level of French is rising and is reaching that standard of excellence, because earlier this year I attended an interesting conference on judicial bilingualism. It's incredibly complex in terms of having to wrap your mind around these very complex legal notions in both languages and, of course, around the two different legal systems that we have in this country.

You talked about functional bilingualism. You said that you had 14 candidates. Eight were interviewed and then went on to their French lessons. When you talk about functional bilingualism, does the test relate to their ability to understand complex legal themes in both languages? Can you give us a bit of an overview? It is a big debate in western Canada, but also it's very important to my Quebec colleagues. I am certainly one of those who feels that the highest court of our land should be bilingual. Could you give us some of your thoughts on that?

[Kim Campbell]

There is a structured test that has been developed by the federal commissioner on judicial affairs. It involves the ability to understand oral arguments in French, the ability to read arguments in French, and the ability to engage in conversation in French. When we met with the chief justice last year, she said that she continues to work on her French.

I don't think they ever stop thinking about it, working on it, and trying to keep it as good as it can be. There are opportunities for translation services, but I think a judge who cannot navigate the files and understand is really at a loss in the court and in the arguments. I'm quite sure that the commissioner of judicial affairs would be happy to show you the test or even give you the test if you wanted to take it to see what it is. It is not so rigorous as to be only passable by the most expert person in the language, but it is rigorous enough that it's meaningful in terms of the ability to function as a judge in French.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

I'll conclude by thanking you for your presentation today. I appreciate it.

[Kim Campbell]

The pleasure is all mine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Housefather]

It was a pleasure to have you here, Mr. MacGregor. I can see you've been working on your French, as have several committee members.

As the only member from Quebec, I want to say how pleased I am that we are considering the nomination of a bilingual judge from western Canada who has a degree in civil law.

Ladies, your testimony here today was appreciated incredibly by the committee. It's a real pleasure to be part of this process. I want to thank you again, both of you, for being here today.

The meeting is adjourned.