Evidence of meeting #55 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 languages.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Basically, we're talking about access to justice.
Lawyer, Specialist in language rights, As an Individual
I understand, Mr. Généreux.
So I'll say two things. The regional or provincial chief judge is still responsible for allocating human resources as required based on absences due to illness, depending on the request for cases. However — and this may be of interest to the committee — the chief judge must have human resources to allocate. This brings us back to the need to appoint a sufficient number of judges, be they in Montreal or elsewhere.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
That is clearly not the case right now.
Lawyer, Specialist in language rights, As an Individual
Yes, but allow me to quickly wrap up on this. In the document we have submitted to you, we include excerpts from the report of the Commissioner of Official Languages. In item 2.3, he recommends to “identify the appropriate number of bilingual judges and/or designated bilingual positions”. If bilingual positions can be designated in the federal public service, bilingual judges can be designated, be it in regional sectors or elsewhere. That can be done.
Liberal
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Do I have to ask a question or can I comment, or do both?
Liberal
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
I have two questions.
Some judges and experts are saying that there is no need to recruit enough bilingual judges. What are their arguments and how can you answer them? You say that anything is possible, but some people doubt that. What do you say to those who feel that it is an impossible task?
Lawyer, As an Individual
Here are the two arguments I hear most often.
First, people say that bilingualism is not a skill and that we should, therefore, support judges who have the best knowledge of the law or who have a particular expertise, rather than judges who are bilingual.
To that I say that bilingualism is, in fact, a skill. Judges are asked to interpret bilingual pieces of legislation, so they must be able to understand the hearings held before them in one language or the other and to make their own analyses by reading their own documents.
Liberal
Lawyer, As an Individual
The second argument is the lack of candidates. It is assumed that there are no bilingual lawyers in Alberta or in Manitoba, and that is a false assumption.
Mr. Power and Professor Grammond co-authored a text on the issue. There are bilingual candidates in every Canadian jurisdiction.
Moreover, times are changing. Bilingualism is increasingly accepted in Canada. More and more people are proud to learn both languages.
On Monday, I was listening to Justice Brown at the Michel-Bastarache lecture. He said that he grew up in western Canada, where he learned French and where he was able to preserve it.
Moreover, just recently, Judge Rowe, who is from Newfoundland and Labrador and is bilingual, was appointed to the Supreme Court. However, no one believed that there were bilingual judges in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Very good. I am now convinced. That's excellent.
I have one last comment to make, before I wrap up. I was listening to the discussions, and it all comes back to the lack of promotion of language rights. The connection Mr. Power established is very important. There is a lack of promotion of bilingual services at the airport, so people don't demand that their rights be respected. In education, the rights set out in section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are not sufficiently promoted. The lack of promotion is a problem we have to resolve in one way or another.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Thank you for that comment, Mr. Samson.
Respected colleagues, thank you very much for this excellent presentation and the discussion we have had with you.
Once again, on behalf of the committee members, thank you very much.
The next meeting will be held next Tuesday. Mr. Nater will preside over it.
The meeting is adjourned.