Senator Batters: As such, then, Senator Gold, would you please ask the Justice Minister, Minister Lametti, to provide us with that confirmation that it is not a requirement of Bill C-13 that Supreme Court justices must be bilingual?

Hon. Denise Batters: In the briefing note on Bill C-13 submitted to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, the Barreau du Québec stated this:

It has been suggested that amendments to the Supreme Court Act or the Official Languages Act could affect the notion of “composition of the Court” as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6, further to Justice Nadon’s appointment. Thus, the addition of a bilingualism requirement to any of these statutes would, in their view, have to go through the constitutional amendment process (seven Canadian provinces with at least 50% of the population).

While we do not take a position on this constitutional issue, we would like to emphasize that it deserves particular attention to ensure that any amendments requiring bilingualism of Supreme Court judges are successful, not counterproductive.

I also note that in my home province of Saskatchewan, the last Supreme Court justice that was appointed from Saskatchewan was Emmett Hall in the 1960s, before I was born. He served until 1973. Given the low rate of bilingualism in Saskatchewan, we want to ensure that we have the best jurists on the Supreme Court of Canada. We need to assess that.

With those important issues to consider, why shouldn’t this bill be studied at our Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs?