Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm going to answer in French. In Quebec, the issue is justice in the north. We have numerous justice-related challenges in the region. Those in the justice system are working hard, but there's a huge lack of resources. Whether we are talking about translation services or court

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's largely about funding. That's very obvious when it comes to our justice system in Quebec. However, this bill clearly changes the perspective, how the law is viewed. Yes, funding needs to be discussed, but in our case, this gives us an opportunity to talk about Quebec and the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No. I want to be perfectly clear, Mr. Saganash. What the Barreau du Québec is saying is that funding should not be the issue that underpins the declaration's adoption. I understand exactly what you are getting at. My answer to your question is no. We are not aware of any such stu

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It is very clear to us that the justice system is failing, especially in northern Quebec. I'll give you a specific example involving the region's Inuit population. Given the vast distances covered, people who are supposed to appear in court often don't show up on time because of

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think it's an issue that needs to be dealt with. We'll have to see how that takes shape on a practical level. It is necessary, but I think we're really only at the beginning of this awakening. Our committees are very busy looking at the issue right now. You're definitely askin

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As we said in our statement, the road that lies ahead is very long indeed. The Barreau du Québec has called on the provinces to adopt the declaration. That's a first step. I think we are still just waking up to this issue. The Barreau wants to be part of the solution. Internally

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Madam Chair, I'll be doing this in French, if anyone needs the earpiece. Members of the committee, I am joined today by Francis Walsh, a member of our committee on the law and indigenous peoples, as well as Julien Pelletier-David, our special adviser on access to justice. We ar

Official Languages committee  Mr. Clarke, these decisions already exist. People made them a while ago. All existing rulings are available in at least one of the two official languages. That's translation. Of course, if you say you want to translate all of them, we will be happy to, but we're trying to make r

Official Languages committee  There are challenges in Quebec other than the translation of rulings. Even in the legislative process, it isn't clear. In Quebec, legislation isn't co-drafted, like it is at the federal level and in other provinces. It's already a challenge to ensure that our laws are adopted in

Official Languages committee  I will take the liberty of answering that question. Trust me, the reality is that all the lawyers in Canada are looking for any creative solution they can understand. For the time being, the creative solutions you hear about most often in the rest of Canada are from other provin

Official Languages committee  I can make a clarification. If I'm not mistaken, there was some funding until 2012, which was then terminated. The funding must definitely increase because it was not enough. As soon as we receive it, we will be able to translate more decisions. Of course, the more funding we h

Official Languages committee  SOQUIJ's mission is really to disseminate legal information. The organization is therefore perfectly equipped to make those decisions.

Official Languages committee  Yes. We use acronyms a lot. SOQUIJ is the Société québécoise d'information juridique. It is a Quebec crown corporation.

Official Languages committee  Can I answer that question? The budgets we have previously requested for SOQUIJ could help us a lot. Then a committee made up of chief justices, or of judges of a certain court, and others involved, could determine which judgments are of interest and should be translated. The r

Official Languages committee  Not all cases have constitutional questions that go right to the top. So there actually can be repercussions for the rest of Canada. Moreover, a lot of people all over the country interpret the Constitution one way or another. We do a lot of interpretations here in Quebec. Chief