Appointing bilingual individuals to these positions is a long-standing tradition. For example, even in the case from last year, when the position was open, bilingualism was indicated as required, not preferable. When you get right down to it, that requirement was not honoured. Perhaps there was a miscommunication somewhere, I do not know. As Mr. Dion mentioned earlier, when unilingual people are in a position of authority, the people who work for them tend to use the language they do.
On March 26th, 2013. See this statement in context.