Official Languages committee  Yes, I have it in front of me. I'm not sure how to answer your question. I'll try, but perhaps Mr. Boivin or others would like to try to round out the answer.

Official Languages committee  I understand, Mr. Généreux. So I'll say two things. The regional or provincial chief judge is still responsible for allocating human resources as required based on absences due to illness, depending on the request for cases. However — and this may be of interest to the committee

Official Languages committee  Yes, but allow me to quickly wrap up on this. In the document we have submitted to you, we include excerpts from the report of the Commissioner of Official Languages. In item 2.3, he recommends to “identify the appropriate number of bilingual judges and/or designated bilingual po

Official Languages committee  That's right. About 15 years ago, the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick ruled that some sections of the Official Languages Act of New Brunswick were invalid. At the time, Mr. Lord was the province's premier. So he had one year to rewrite the Official Languages Act of New Brunswick

Official Languages committee  It is not only perfectly normal, it is responsible to require certification to confirm that those who think or say that they can do something actually can do it. As an example, I am not allowed to drive an 18-wheeler on the highway without a license, and that is a good thing. I h

Official Languages committee  I am sorry, Mr. Lefebvre, I do not have specific answers to those questions. However, I repeat that what we need is for the service to be actively offered, which means appointing more judges. If more bilingual judges are appointed, people will come forward and ask for services i

Official Languages committee  No, Mr. Lefebvre, I am sorry, but that is not so. Look at page 2 of our document. It’s in 10-point type, you need good eyesight to read it, but we included the wording of section 20 of the Official Languages Act, Mr. Bouchard’s and Mr. Mulroney’s act, which specifies the circumst

Official Languages committee  I have never thought of the issue in that way. That's an excellent question. Before that, the act was passed in the 1960s, during Pierre Trudeau’s time. The act did not grant any real power to the Commissioner of Official Languages. I agree with Mrs. Boucher. So there was no rea

Official Languages committee  I have two comments, Mr. Généreux. It is unusual for the federal Parliament not to touch an important piece of legislation for more than 30 years. In taxation, there are annual changes. Federal legislation on official languages is the result of the work of Lucien Bouchard, when

Official Languages committee  That was the last time. It's been a long time, Mr. Généreux. It is important to remember that there was no Internet at the time. However, it revolutionized services. At the time, Mr. Bouchard and Mr. Mulroney did a good job. Times have changed now. At the very least, it would be

Official Languages committee  Yes, of course, he should have more powers, but—

Official Languages committee  Mrs. Boucher, I think he is independent, and he's already an ombudsman.

Official Languages committee  He still has some powers. The essence of my remarks is that the commissioner, or the next commissioner, should make greater use of his current powers and that it would be desirable for the House of Commons and the Senate to better regulate this discretionary power, to first force

Official Languages committee  My colleague Mr. Roy is just as qualified as me, if not more so, to talk about that issue.

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon. Thank you for your invitation. I am pleased and honoured to be here to talk about another topic of interest. You should have received a document. It's a memorandum in English and in French. The first page outlines the four points that my co