I have a couple of concerns about the bill. I've already mentioned that I worry about the effectiveness of training lawyers who might become judges later on, if you really want to make a difference. It is important.... The real effectiveness of judicial training is that they are judges. They know they're in the seat. They're sitting there. They're practising because—this is a hypothetical situation in one of our courses—they know that next week they're going to have to do it. I worry about the effectiveness, if that is what the bill is aiming for.
The second concern I have is with respect to written reasons. Now, I appreciate that Ms. Ambrose has acknowledged that there are audio recordings and that may solve the issue of written reasons, but I do worry, knowing the heavy workload of judges now and the additional workload that doing written reasons has for every judge, and, most importantly, the fact that it would delay the litigants' knowing the outcome of their cases. We do whatever we can to ensure that decisions are rendered quickly.
If the section dealing with written reasons allows for audio recordings to be available, that makes a lot more sense. At the end of the day, I think it would ensure that the litigants find out the results of their cases earlier.
In terms of whether it's necessary, I'm not sure that, as a judge, I should go there, but those are some concerns that I have.