Official Languages committee  In terms of provincial government bodies, the answer is no, in my opinion. I would qualify those efforts as more on the feeble side. With respect to federal bodies, funding for that purpose is available and public servants are bilingual, but is there a genuine desire to participa

Official Languages committee  Thank you very much.

Official Languages committee  Is the question for both of us, or just one of us?

Official Languages committee  I've been a lawyer in Quebec for 40 years. No, I'm not old. I've been a lawyer in Ontario for 37 years. Maybe that made me old. Every few months a client comes to see me who says, “Mr. Bergman, I need to sue the Government of Quebec” or “I need to sue a city in Quebec” or “I need

Official Languages committee  The attitude in Quebec is that English is a second language, but it is best to speak French. If you want good service, you have to speak French. Let me give you an example, which may be a little extreme. I was in a courtroom in a courthouse. My opponent, the judge and I were all

Official Languages committee  In Quebec, in provincial courts—not federal ones—there is none. It's zero. The Charter of the French Language has no provisions for interpretation such as the one you have here, in this room, simultaneous, automatic and paid for by the government.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  Not just Bill 101, it's the system.

Official Languages committee  We are asking for a funding program to make interpretation possible in each courtroom and courthouse, the way it is in this room and in the Federal Court and the Supreme Court. Perhaps this is very expensive for Canada, but Canada needs a program like that. Every time there is a

Official Languages committee  Not yet. I have to say that we are like a baby learning to walk. As I said in my presentation, we receive only $77,000 for three programs, for six weeks, which will end in a few weeks. Those are simply programs trying to set up the basics, that's all.

Official Languages committee  It comes from Justice Canada.

Official Languages committee  —or a computer. That's just to give you an example in paper. The rules by which our society is organized have become extraordinarily complicated and manifold, so that every individual in this country, at some point during their daily life, in some way encounters justice. They ma

Official Languages committee  There are many difficult problems that stem from the Nadon decision itself, and they are conceptual problems. With the greatest of respect, I do not personally agree with the Nadon decision. Frankly, it is a decision that had a certain moment in time, but it does not look at th

Official Languages committee  Based on my experience, outside greater Montreal, that's the reality, period. Within greater Montreal, it depends. Some judges are perfectly bilingual, while others say they can listen and understand, but in order to talk to us and say what they mean, they have to speak French. T

Official Languages committee  I would like to take a stab at this. First, I'd like to remark that you and I have something in common. I am from Montreal. I live in Montreal and I practise in Montreal, but I'm also a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and have pleaded in Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, Bramp