Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak in support of the member for Acadie—Bathurst's bill, Bill C-232, which is very important for the House to debate. I also acknowledge the tireless work that the member for Acadie—Bathurst does in defence of official languages and for being such an excellent watchdog when the government fails in its duty to uphold the official languages of this country.
I am an anglophone from western Canada. It is interesting that two members from western Canada are speaking about the bill today. One is opposed, but I am very much in favour.
I will talk a bit about why it is so important. First, the legislation provides a clear signal for all levels of the judiciary in our country. When legislation is introduced in Parliament, it comes to us in both official languages. We know it is absolutely our right in the House to be heard in either language of our choice.
As you rightly pointed out, Madam Speaker, sometimes we provide some challenges for the interpreters here. Whatever language we choose to speak, sometimes our passion about a particular subject will have speak very quickly and it does not allow the interpreters to keep up with the speed of our speech. That deprives the members, who listen in that other language of their choice, of their right to hear what the member has said.
Many of us in the House have had experiences where, either because of the noise in the House or the rapidity of our speech, we have been unable to have our words heard by members who listen in another language. That very challenge is why it is incumbent, when we talk about Supreme Court justices, that the justices are fully fluent in both of our Canadian languages, English and French.
People who have their cases heard before court in whatever language of their choice should have a comfort level that the justices are able to understand in whatever language the case is presented. It seems fundamental to me, and Canadians agree, that we do have two official languages.
I want to digress just a little for a moment and talk about why this is so important. By taking it out of the realm of talking about English and French and putting it into another realm, I think it may be easier for people to understand why it is absolutely essential that we honour the Official Languages Act and recognize that people have the right to be served in their language of choice at all levels.
It is probably no surprise to many members of the House that I will talk about indigenous languages. Members may not be aware that in 1989 the Assembly of First Nations declared March 31 as National Aboriginal Languages Day. I will use some other people's words to talk about why that is so important.
Last year in the Yukon legislative assembly, Mr. Cardiff rose in recognition of National Aboriginal Languages Day. He said:
It is said that language is culture. A person's culture is expressed most clearly in the process of their language use. Thinking patterns, values and actions are all underlaid by language expression. Daily use of the language means that the culture is strong and that it is passed on.
Mr. Edzerza's mother language is Tahltan, but he unfortunately grew up without the ability to speak it. He talked about the impact of his language and culture on growing up. He said:
—the Council of Yukon First Nations did a Yukon regional health survey, called Reclaiming the Well-being of Our People. The survey results showed 87 percent of those surveyed said loss of their language had a very negative impact on their lives today, and 91 percent of youth and children rate that knowing their traditional language is very important to them.
He goes on to say:
In 1994, Elder Percy Henry gave a powerful message to all people about language when he said...“A car with no gas can't go. A tree with no branches can't grow. So as native people who have lost their language, part of us is gone. Your spirit is strong; your fire inside of you is strong; you have it all when you speak your own language.”
That speaks very powerfully in our country. Both francophones and anglophones, if they should end up in a Supreme Court justice situation, need to be understood.
Many of the nuances being presented in an argument, even if it is not around a justice issue, can be lost in interpretation.
In speaking about the importance of language, I want to refer to the comments of an expert in the area. Graham Fraser, the Commissioner of Official Languages, said:
--it seems to me that the knowledge of both official languages should be one of the qualifications sought for judges of Canada's highest court. Setting such a standard would prove to all Canadians that the Government of Canada is committed to linguistic duality. I find it essential that an institution as important as the Supreme Court of Canada not only be composed of judges with exceptional legal skills, but also reflect our values and our Canadian identity as a bijural and bilingual country.
We have heard some arguments in this House, although not many, that appointments to the Supreme Court bench should be based on merit.
Where I live in Nanaimo--Cowichan, there is a very strong francophonie association. French immersion courses are oversubscribed. People on the west coast are very interested in being fluently bilingual, being able to speak both English and French, because that is what our country is about.
I would argue that by establishing that Supreme Court justices will be bilingual, we will be sending a very clear message that when people enter law school and have some ambitions to being appointed to the bench, they will take the responsibility to learn both English and French in order to be considered for that kind of appointment.
Graham Fraser indicated:
If Parliament were to pass this bill, it would send a powerful message to Canada's law schools that mastering both official languages is a prerequisite for full mastery of the law, and for qualification for the most important and prestigious positions in the Canadian judiciary.
Canadians are very intelligent people. If bilingualism is a job requirement to be a Supreme Court justice, they will understand that they must be fluent in both English and French. I encourage all members of this House to support the member for Acadie—Bathurst's very fine piece of legislation and vote yes on it.