I'd like to have an explanation. I was here for the appointment of Mr. Justice Rothstein, who was apparently unilingual. He had been selected from a Liberal, not a Conservative list. Over the past 13 years, and even before that, the Liberal Party has virtually always formed the majority government. How is it that this type of proposal was never put on the table? I approve of what the Liberal Party is requesting, but I don't understand why it hasn't happened before this. One would say that, by this motion, the Liberals want to show that we Conservatives are opposed to bilingualism. It's that kind of motion.
I personally disagree with that, even though I agree on the principle. However, I don't understand why they didn't do this over those 13 years.
Furthermore, Mr. Rothstein's name comes from the Liberal Party list. I witnessed his appointment since I was on the committee.
I also don't understand why they're suddenly introducing this type of motion, which is more of a political motion than a motion designed to solve the problems. Since 1954, they have been in power for nearly 30 years and this kind of motion or act was never brought forward. They were in the majority and they formed the government for nearly 40 years, and we never saw anything like this.
How is it that the Supreme Court Act was never amended in 40 years, whereas they were a majority government, and that they suddenly wake up and say that the mean Conservatives are opposed to bilingualism? That's why I approve of the content of the motion as such, because we must reflect what Canada is, but I find that the motion in its present form is a political motion.