Twoller
05-02-2010, 01:03 PM
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2977850
Legal community divided over bilingualism on Supreme Court
Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, May 02, 2010
OTTAWA -- To this day, francophone lawyer Michel Doucet wonders whether his narrow defeat in a Supreme Court of Canada case had anything to do with the inability of some anglophone judges to understand him.
"You just wonder sometimes," said Mr. Doucet, who later watched an English video of the 2005 hearing and feels that some of his arguments, all made in French, could have been lost in translation.
At the time, at least three of the judges who sat on the language-rights case were listening through interpreters -- a practice banned under a bill that recently passed in the House of Commons and is now awaiting Senate approval.
Mr. Doucet, the dean of the University of Moncton's law school, is a strong supporter of the bill, which would make it mandatory for all future Supreme Court of Canada judges to be bilingual.
....
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who opposes the bill, has maintained that merit is the key qualification for a Supreme Court appointment.
The most vocal proponents of Ms. Godin's initiative are Quebecers and groups representing francophones, including former Supreme Court justice Claire L'Heureux-Dube, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser.
In quick public hearings last spring at the House of Commons justice committee, four of the five witnesses spoke in favour of the bill, arguing that competency includes bilingualism.
"In order to respect all Canadians, it's important to ensure that they are all served by judges of the highest distinction and greatest ability, who can hear and understand a case in either official language," Mr. Fraser said.
"Given the complexity and the extreme importance of the cases heard by this court, judges should be able to hear arguments presented to them without using an interpreter to understand nuanced and complex legal arguments."
Like many proponents, Mr. Fraser argues that anyone who aspires to sit on the Supreme Court would make a point of learning French if Ms. Godin's bill becomes law.
Mr. Major denounced that argument as "silly," saying that it's such a long shot to be promoted to the Supreme Court that most lawyers and judges wouldn't consider the pursuit of bilingualism to be time well spent.
....
The rest of the article is at the above link.
Legal community divided over bilingualism on Supreme Court
Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, May 02, 2010
OTTAWA -- To this day, francophone lawyer Michel Doucet wonders whether his narrow defeat in a Supreme Court of Canada case had anything to do with the inability of some anglophone judges to understand him.
"You just wonder sometimes," said Mr. Doucet, who later watched an English video of the 2005 hearing and feels that some of his arguments, all made in French, could have been lost in translation.
At the time, at least three of the judges who sat on the language-rights case were listening through interpreters -- a practice banned under a bill that recently passed in the House of Commons and is now awaiting Senate approval.
Mr. Doucet, the dean of the University of Moncton's law school, is a strong supporter of the bill, which would make it mandatory for all future Supreme Court of Canada judges to be bilingual.
....
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who opposes the bill, has maintained that merit is the key qualification for a Supreme Court appointment.
The most vocal proponents of Ms. Godin's initiative are Quebecers and groups representing francophones, including former Supreme Court justice Claire L'Heureux-Dube, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser.
In quick public hearings last spring at the House of Commons justice committee, four of the five witnesses spoke in favour of the bill, arguing that competency includes bilingualism.
"In order to respect all Canadians, it's important to ensure that they are all served by judges of the highest distinction and greatest ability, who can hear and understand a case in either official language," Mr. Fraser said.
"Given the complexity and the extreme importance of the cases heard by this court, judges should be able to hear arguments presented to them without using an interpreter to understand nuanced and complex legal arguments."
Like many proponents, Mr. Fraser argues that anyone who aspires to sit on the Supreme Court would make a point of learning French if Ms. Godin's bill becomes law.
Mr. Major denounced that argument as "silly," saying that it's such a long shot to be promoted to the Supreme Court that most lawyers and judges wouldn't consider the pursuit of bilingualism to be time well spent.
....
The rest of the article is at the above link.