Justice committee  I just wanted to stress this point. Regarding functional bilingualism, I agree. I believe that we must keep in mind the principles enshrined in section 19 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, especially all the rights that have to do with official languages and that ar

Justice committee  Mr. Chair, let me raise a brief point of information which, I think, is relevant and is in agreement with what Mr. Ménard was saying. I am not speaking on behalf of the Canadian Bar Association, but this is just a point of information. Last year we succeeded in adopting a provis

Justice committee  I fully support what Mr. Doucet just said. Let me add that the problem with the SAANB decision had to do with the reasons for the decision that made a restrictive interpretation of subsection 19(2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. When we look at this more closely,

Justice committee  This is one of the themes I deal with in my presentation. In fact, there is no question in my mind that the highest court of this country should lead by example. I'm not putting the blame on the highest court; I'm simply saying that the way the law is drafted is sort of contradi

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the honourable members of the committee for inviting me here today. I am a lawyer in private practice with the Cox & Palmer law firm. I have practised law for 12 years. I personally had an opportunity to plead a case in the Supreme Court of Ca