Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome, everyone. Thank you for your presentations. They are really important.
You referred to section 16 of the Official Languages Act. For the sake of the average person, let me clarify that this section states that every federal court, other than the Supreme Court of Canada, has the duty to ensure that the person hearing the case understands English or French without the assistance of an interpreter. This is what the section basically says. The Supreme Court of Canada is the exclusion in section 16.
Is that the exclusion you were referring to, Ms. Saikaley? Do you know the history of this exclusion? Why was this exclusion included in this section? At the time, what were the reasons that led the legislator to provide for such an exclusion?