A few years ago, in fact, we did a study on bilingualism among appeal court judges. We collected information from appeal court registrars. The results were rather surprising. The bilingualism rate was at least 30%, and that includes the western provinces. There are bilingual judges, then.
When we take a long look back at the practice over time, we see that most judges in provinces other than Quebec are bilingual. They had to be found somewhere, and to my knowledge, no one has criticized the appointments, arguing that a bilingual judge who was not competent had been appointed. I would actually say that bilingualism and competency go hand in hand. The concern over limiting the supply of acceptable candidates is not founded, in my view.
Furthermore, we are seeing many superior and appeal court judges taking French training. It has also long been known that, although not a prerequisite, French proficiency is a tremendous asset for Supreme Court appointees. Any ambitious lawyer should know that.