With regard to consultation, the Federal Court of Appeal found, at page 67 of bookmark A, that consultation is required, that federal institutions must be aware of the needs of the francophone minority and that this is a requirement that stems from part VII of the Official Languages Act. How should they consult? Whom should they consult? When should they consult? All those answers are unknown. Please, let's avoid another decade of litigation—it's ironic to be saying that as a lawyer—and let's clarify the matter in the next version of the Official Languages Act.
The Federal Court of Appeal requires that the Government of Canada establish linguistic clauses as a condition for entering into the federal-provincial agreement.