That's the first time you've told me that. We were called hypocrites and they said we lacked integrity. I'm going to explain to him what we did since he cast doubt on it, Mr. Chairman.
What is pathetic is that, in fact, I didn't want to engage in Conservative politics today. I didn't attack the Conservatives. I used the word “ensure” because, as parliamentarians, francophones, anglophones, Canadians, we have a duty to do a job that represents the values of this country.
We're talking about the Supreme Court, about the court of last resort. Mr. Doucet said he had lost a case by a judgment of five to four, where the fifth judge neither spoke nor understood French. You have to understand, Mr. Lemieux, that translation alone is not enough. The laws are drafted in both languages, but in their original versions, as my colleague Godin said. We therefore have to ensure that the legal nuances and concepts are fully understood.
In the Liberal Party, we did some good things in Parliament: among other things, we appointed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a bilingual francophone. Did we only do good things? Probably not, but Parliament is a place of evolution. In that sense, I think my colleague Mr. Godin is right. It's not because not everything has been covered that you necessarily have to stop. Today, 11 years later, I find myself on the same committee, and it is with faith, interest and passion that I want to ensure that my constituents in the riding of Bourassa know that I'm going to defend them in both official languages.
When I go to Quebec or elsewhere in the country, I speak both languages because I think we are all first-class citizens. I know the Conservatives unfortunately want to do a hatchet job. I'm going to request a recorded vote, Mr. Chairman, so that everyone can live fully with his own conscience, which I respect.
However, where the motion states “That the Standing Committee on Official Languages recommend that the government ensure [...]”, does that imply that we're compelling the government? We want to ensure that people appointed to that court of last resort are able to understand us.
The fact that francophones must wait for two hours to be served in their language is unacceptable. It is also appalling that, in the court of last resort, we hear sentences like, “I didn't entirely understand.” But what do you want, the score is five to four. Que sera sera. In hockey, if the goaltender thought that way, the puck would go into his net a lot and he wouldn't win a lot of games.
I'm telling people that if they want to play politics, that's fine with me: that's my passion. We can play partisan politics, Mr. Lemieux. And you, my dear Petit, I didn't call you mean. There aren't any mean Conservatives today. I could recite you a whole litany, quote your leader at length and tell you that he has enough dinosaurs on his team to make a sequel to Jurassic Park, but I'm not going to dwell on that.
Mr. Chairman, I hope people will clearly understand that each of us will adopt a position on this motion not as Liberals, Bloquistes, New Democrats or Conservatives, but as parliamentarians.
Thank you.