Official Languages committee  Welcome back.

Official Languages committee  No, I would have told you.

Official Languages committee  No. Look, I do not know who it is, I have no idea. It is probably a Canadian constitutional expert. I am not an expert. I am a Supreme Court “groupie” rather than an expert on constitutional law. So I would not be consulted on an issue like that.

Official Languages committee  First of all, I have no plan for that.

Official Languages committee  It’s a solution, but it may not be a good idea. A distinction must be made between two things: challenging the appointment of a particular judge is not the same as challenging the legislation that would amend this requirement for appointment through ordinary legislation. Challenging the appointment of a particular judge—as we saw once in the Nadon case—has been circumvented.

Official Languages committee  It’s both symbolic and practical. If you are interested in the symbolic aspect, whether it is actually real on the ground or not does not matter. If you’re concerned about the symbolic aspect, we have to fix it. Being concerned about the concrete and practical aspect means wondering whether there can be any misunderstanding that would prevent an individual from having access to justice.

Official Languages committee  Yes, that’s right. However, I would add right away that this is not ideal. That’s what I started with. Ideally, everyone would have access to information directly, without the help of an intermediary.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  That’s right.

Official Languages committee  Have I personally advised the government?

Official Languages committee  No, not at all.

Official Languages committee  Are you asking me whether I know who has?

Official Languages committee  No, I have no idea.

Official Languages committee  I don't know.

Official Languages committee  I was recalling the conversations because, clearly, when a judge is unilingual English, it is more difficult to have a conversation in French about a case submitted in French.