Here is the explanation that I was given. A few years ago Parliament passed a law, which I support, under which any agent of Parliament, at the time of his or her appointment, must be bilingual: the Auditor General, the Commissioner of Official Languages, the Chief Electoral Officer, and all of the others. According to the interpretation of that law by the Privy Council, there are now nine positions for which it is mandatory to be bilingual, but, by default, bilingualism is optional for the other positions. In my opinion, that is a regrettable interpretation.
