Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for his very well reasoned and researched presentation into what is a very important issue. As the minister knows, I am a member of the bar in New Brunswick.
In my province, as in many others, practising members of the bar have shown a great deal of interest in the judicial appointment process. I must say that since he has taken office, the minister has made some top-notch appointments.
What I want to know from the Minister of Justice is what he intends to do in this regard in my home province of New Brunswick. We have to appoint competent lawyers of course, but also bilingual lawyers. Some of my classmates still practice law. They tell me that in a province like mine, which is officially bilingual, the fact that a judge is not bilingual is often a problem for some witnesses or when documents are introduced.
I know that the minister has said publicly that it was important for our judiciary, whether the Federal Court or the superior courts of my province, to be able to work in both official languages. As a minority francophone, I would be interested to know what the minister intends to do to promote these values regarding the appointments, while agreeing of course that all appointments must be based on competence and integrity.