Mr. Speaker, accused persons who say they do not care and they just want to get out of there fast do this because they know the mechanism is not in place for them to be heard in the language of their choice. The last thing they want to do is frustrate the judge. That creates a problem. When we say “follow up”, we mean to put the mechanism in place to make sure that when people get to court, they know that when they pick the language they want to be heard in it does not hurt their cases. That is the last thing they want to do.
I do not know how many times I have heard accused persons say they do not care but they will pick the language that will get them out of court and not put in jail or accused of something when they are not guilty. They do not want to make a mistake. They trust their lawyers to do it for them. The problem is that if people cannot express themselves in their own language, maybe they will make a mistake that will find them guilty when they are not guilty. That is the problem and that is why I say it is so important for the minister to make sure the mechanism is in place across the country so that people do not have to ask “what language should I speak to get out of here?”.