Evidence of meeting #35 for Official Languages in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was quebec.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Why was the assistance initially granted? There had to be a reason. In addition, why was it stopped? Do you know the history behind all that?
Vice-President, Barreau du Québec
That is an excellent question. I'm not sure whether Mr. Bloom is familiar with the history. I don't know the details.
Director, Association of English speaking Jurists of Quebec
I just asked why the grant was stopped and why we did not get it back. I was told that, as part of the new action plan that was to begin in 2018 and continue until 2023, we would have to make our voices heard in support of the resumption of the funding.
It is important to understand that the action plan covers a five-year period and that the current action plan ends in 2018. Right now, there is not enough money.
Furthermore, I was told that translation was not a priority. As I explained earlier, this is more than just an issue with translation.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Who told you that translation was not a priority? There's no need to name the person.
Director, Association of English speaking Jurists of Quebec
It was someone in the Department of Justice.
Vice-President, Barreau du Québec
I'd like to add one thing. This matter involves the Department of Justice, as Mr. Bloom said, but also the Department of Canadian Heritage. We most often interact with the Department of Justice, since it is responsible for the appointment of judges. That said, the challenge remains for both departments to work together to find a solution to our problem.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Did the infamous one-time translation grant come from the Department of Canadian Heritage or from the Department of Justice?
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
That's okay. You can send us that information later, or we can find it.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Thank you.
That's the end of my remarks. I will let others have the floor, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Good morning.
Welcome. We are happy that you are here with us today.
Thank you very much.
I will be sharing my speaking time, but I have some very specific questions.
As you know, the feds are responsible for the appointment of Superior Court justices. How is the number of judges calculated in the various districts in Quebec? Is it reassessed according to the demographic growth?
Vice-President, Barreau du Québec
I'm not sure how familiar you are with the process. As a first step, the province identifies the needs. The federal government then has to respond and confirm the needs. For instance, Quebec says that it needs six more judges and then the federal government decides to appoint additional judges. There's often a disconnect between the two.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
What is the situation in the Laurentian region, in your opinion?
Vice-President, Barreau du Québec
The Laurentian and Lanaudière regions are the pool with the highest increase in Quebec's population, but the number of judges has not increased accordingly.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you.
I have another question about the Laurentian region. If I come from the Lower Laurentians and I'm an anglophone,
is it easy to be represented in English in Saint-Jérôme?
Vice-President, Barreau du Québec
Do you mean in terms of lawyers or judges?
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
I'm thinking of the entire picture. If you go to court and you want to be represented in your language, is that easily done?
Vice-President, Barreau du Québec
I wouldn't be able to answer your question, because I've never had that experience.
Liberal
Director, Association of English speaking Jurists of Quebec
Basically, you have to get a judge from Montreal. In the Saint-Jérôme district you'll find some lawyers who are bilingual, but not that many, and judges, even fewer.
Who determines how many judges are going to be assigned to any particular jurisdiction? It's the chief justice of the province at the time who decides how many judges they need and in which jurisdictions.
Vice-President, Barreau du Québec
I can tell you that the last time I went to Saint-Jérôme for an out-of-court settlement, I was before an anglophone judge.
That said, my answer is very anecdotal.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
My question is about the translation grant you were talking about just now. You were not talking about translation from English into French, but rather the translation into English of jurisprudence written in French.
Is that specific to Quebec? In Quebec, the translation is from French into English. Is the translation in other provinces from English into French? Do you know if that happens in other provinces?
