Courts shortchanging French, English minorities
Study calls for more bilingual judges
The federal language watchdog and his counterparts from Ontario and New Brunswick say that English and French-speaking minority communities in Canada are facing delays and additional costs in superior courts for choosing to be heard in the language of their choice.
In a new study released on Friday by Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser in partnership with language watchdogs Francois Boileau of Ontario and Katherine d’Entremont of New Brunswick, the commissioners asked the federal justice minister to implement 10 different measures to fix the problem by September 2014 through coordinated action with the provinces and territories.
“In a country that proudly claims linguistic duality as a fundamental value and a crucial part of its identity, no one should suffer delays, additional costs or any other hardships for having chosen to be heard in English or in French,” said the study. “There is an urgent need to put mechanisms in place in order to ensure that all of the provinces’ and territories’ superior courts and appeal courts have an appropriate number of bilingual judges so that English- and French-speaking Canadians have full access to justice in both official languages.”
Fraser’s study said the problems included a shortage of judges who could hear cases in both languages, as well as the absence of supporting legal aid and a “perception of uneven understanding of language rights among judges.”
The study, based on a survey of lawyers, judges and other Canadians across the country, found that access to bilingual services was generally better in Quebec and New Brunswick than in the rest of Canada.
The federal government, under existing language legislation, is required to support the development of minority English and French linguistic communities across Canada and ensure access to federal government services in both official languages, while protecting equality of the two groups across the country.
But a majority of English- and French-speaking minority communities had the perception of inadequate bilingual services in the courts of their respective jurisdictions in all parts of the country, according to the study. Other lawyers also raised concerns about FrenchCanadians who were forced to represent themselves in the courts, without access to adequate support so that they could understand what was happening in their case.
But in many cases, francophones are forced to proceed in English to accommodate the other parties.
“There was an example of a proceeding that what supposed to be bilingual,” said one lawyer consulted for Fraser’s study. “It ended up being in English only because the Frenchspeaking client understood English. So francophones have English imposed upon them indirectly by the system because it’s easier.”
A judge told the watchdog that this approach was unacceptable. “We must not only tolerate or accommodate French in the courts; we must also promote it,” said the judge. “If not, francophones may be pressured to choose English to reduce costs, complexity or delays.”
Justice Minister Peter MacKay said through a spokeswoman that the government would study it “to assess whether any improvements should be made.”