Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to some of the remarks made this evening by the opposition member.
We do not deny the importance of linguistic competencies, especially when a specific need comes to light. However, merit is the overriding factor in the appointment of judges. First and foremost, the government is committed to appointing the best-qualified individuals. The government will continue to appoint competent, dedicated people and to comply with principles of gender equality, cultural diversity and bilingualism.
The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of supporting the development of minority language communities. To that end, in June 2008, the government announced the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013, an unprecedented government-wide commitment with a budget of over $1.1 billion, based on two components: participation of all in linguistic duality and support for official language minority communities in the priority sectors of health, justice, immigration, economic development, arts and culture.
As the government has stated in the past, the overriding principles guiding the selection of members of the judiciary, including those of the highest court, is merit, which is based on legal excellence. Such an assessment would necessarily include assessing the bilingualism of candidates, but this factor must be evaluated alongside other elements.