Thank you for the question.
First of all, let me address the question of whether the standard is an extreme standard or whether it in fact is not as high a standard as that which is expected of other officials. Right now, the Supreme Court benefits from an exemption that other federal institutions do not benefit from. Twenty-two years ago, when the Official Languages Act was amended and there was some discuss ion of whether this exemption for the Supreme Court should be included or not, Ramon Hnatyshyn, who was the Minister of Justice at the time, said in fact, we're not ready yet.
We've now had 22 years since the Official Languages Act was amended, and the question is, are we ready now? Right now, eight of the nine justices meet the criteria. It is in fact a lower criterion than the criterion that's expected of senior officials in government, that's expected of leaders of political parties, that's expected of senior military officers.
All that the private member's bill requires is oral understanding. It will not expect that justices be required to write their decisions in the other language or that they ask questions in the other language; it's simply that they be able to understand.
Why I think this is particularly important—