Official Languages Committee on Nov. 21st, 2017

[Paul-Matthieu Grondin]

Mr. Clarke, these decisions already exist. People made them a while ago. All existing rulings are available in at least one of the two official languages. That's translation.

Of course, if you say you want to translate all of them, we will be happy to, but we're trying to make reasonable requests. We have come a long way. Many people everywhere will agree that some rulings be published. This doesn't mean that they will agree with the outcome of the ruling. It may be that the outcome of the ruling is not what a committee member would have liked, but the committee member considers that this issue might influence the jurisprudence elsewhere. So, in a very general sense, the members of this committee will be independently minded. That must be clear.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

You're right. Thank you.

Several people from francophone minorities outside Quebec have reported a situation. I think it's a very serious problem. I would like to know if, as Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, you've heard about it.

It's been said that in several small Canadian municipalities outside Quebec, when a person waives their right to be served in their own language in a federal court, such as in Dalhousie, New Brunswick, for instance, it is considered to upset the community, sociologically speaking. Some statistics show that a person who asked to be served in the language of their choice is more likely to lose their case if they are French-speaking.

Have you heard about this problem? If so, I think it would be good for you to talk about it.

[Chief Justice Jacques Fournier]

If I had heard of this problem, I would have denounced it loud and clear. I'm not aware of similar cases. I can tell you that, in Quebec, if it turned out that a person was at a disadvantage because they had chosen to exercise a constitutional right and a judge was involved, the judge would have a serious problem. I would personally take a complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council. This is totally unacceptable in a country that insists so much on saying it's bilingual.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Mr. Clarke.

I would like to thank my friends Paul-Matthieu Grondin, president of the Quebec Bar, and Jacques Fournier, Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, for their presentations and for providing insight to the members of the committee.

We will suspend the meeting for a few minutes before we go in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]