Official Languages Committee on Dec. 6th, 2018

[Nadia Effendi]

The AJEFO's position on the matter has been the same for many years: we're in favour of this kind of amendment. In our view, the exception provided for in the Official Languages Act respecting official languages in the federal courts should be eliminated. It's somewhat absurd to think that litigants in Ontario can appear before a court at any level and request that their case be heard by a bilingual or francophone judge but that they don't have that option before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Although the interpreters do an incredible job in an increasingly technical field of law, mistakes do occur. There's another aspect that should be considered. When documents are filed in French, they aren't translated into English for the judges, which means the judges must read them in French.

Many people tell us there may not be enough bilingual candidates, but I don't agree. Recent appointments have included highly qualified and bilingual people from the legal community. Introducing this bilingualism requirement would promote bilingualism across Canada. I'm sure anyone aspiring to be a judge on the Supreme Court of Canada bench would take the necessary courses to become bilingual.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thanks very much, Mr. Choquette.

I have to manage my time. Ms. Effendi's so interesting all my colleagues want to speak. From now on I'll give everyone who wants to speak three minutes, including Ms. Effendi's answers.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

That's the time I usually take for my preamble.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mrs. Fortier, you have the floor.

[Mona Fortier, Ottawa—Vanier, Lib.]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Effendi, I want to begin by applauding the leadership the AJEFO has shown for at least 10 years, not just since "Black Thursday". It's incredible to see the progress that has been made on access to justice, even though much remains to be done. Your leadership has been exemplary and has had an impact on other provinces and territories. The pilot project conducted four or five years ago showed how important it is to have better access to justice in French, particularly via active offer. That's what I would like to discuss with you.

With respect to Ontario's French Language Services Act, Commissioner Boileau conducted a thorough study on active offer, and you subsequently aligned your activities and actions with his recommendations.

Can you talk to us about active offer, how far things have advanced, and why it should be further integrated into the French Language Services Act?

[Nadia Effendi]

Absolutely.

In 2009, when the French language services commissioner looked into the justice sector, he discovered that French-language services had to be improved. Following that recommendation, the Rouleau—Le Vay committee was struck to look into access to justice in French and to determine what could be done in that regard. The committee made 17 recommendations to improve services, including the recommendation that French-language services be offered by the courts.

Following another study by Judge Julie Thorburn, the purpose of which was to determine how those various recommendations could be implemented, a pilot project was conducted at the Ottawa Court House. The staff of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General was trained to offer its services in French automatically. In various institutions, people were probably already greeting you with "Hello, bonjour." That's the principle of active offer.

The pilot project was launched in May 2015, and the report was issued in 2017. It was discovered that active offer was a success all down the line, and there was no doubt about it. Madam, thank you for noting that active offer is directly linked to Commissioner Boileau's recommendation. That pilot project would not have seen the light of day had it not been for the commissioner's 2009 recommendation that access to justice issues be given more consideration.

[Mona Fortier]

Pardon me for stopping you there, but the chair will be interrupting me soon.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Everyone wants to speak, and I'm having trouble managing the time.

Mr. Arseneault, you have the floor.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Ms. Effendi, thank you for your vigour, your mastery of the issue and your professionalism. Having said that, need I add that you're from Madawaska—Restigouche?

[Nadia Effendi]

Oh, oh!

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

You discussed your organization's funding. How many members of your staff are paid?

[Nadia Effendi]

There are a dozen of us.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Is that for all of Ontario, north to south and east to west?

[Nadia Effendi]

Yes, our office and staff are in Ottawa. With that staff, we offer services to the entire population of Ontario.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Does the board of directors consist of volunteer lawyers?

[Nadia Effendi]

Absolutely. They're all volunteers. There are about 15 of us. We also have committees on which about 20 lawyers from everywhere, all of them volunteers, sit.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

So they went all over Ontario.

[Nadia Effendi]

Absolutely.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Roughly speaking, what are the federal and provincial contributions to your operating budget?

[Nadia Effendi]

Definitely about 80% of our funding comes from the federal government and approximately 20% from the provincial government. Earlier I mentioned the amounts we received from the provincial government.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

So you receive approximately $180,000 from the provincial government.

[Nadia Effendi]

We get a total of approximately $200,000 from the provincial government

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

That's $30,000 plus $180,000; that's quite a lot of money. I know there's never enough money because there's always some catching up to do, but is your funding stable? That's what makes the organization sound.

[Nadia Effendi]

We were very pleased to learn that the funding we had received from the federal government was renewed. However, you won't be surprised to learn that some of our programs have been cancelled. The federal government decided to give us less money for certain programs. We may be very efficient, and perhaps it decided we could do our work without that funding. In actual fact, our funding was cut, and we therefore had less money with which to provide the same services.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Having been on the executive of an equivalent organization in New Brunswick for many years, I know the exact role you play as chair.

In this entire wave that has broken since "Black Thursday", how is your organization actually putting pressure on the Ford government, which gives you about $200,000 in funding? How do you feel about that? Are there any threats? How do you manage it?