Posted on 22 May 2008
Ottawa, May 22, 2008 - As an advocate for official languages, Senator Claudette Tardif issued a statement in the Senate last Thursday regarding the bilingualism of Canadian Supreme Court Justices: "Let us reaffirm our commitment to linguistic duality and bilingualism by requiring that justices of the Supreme Court of Canada be bilingual," she stated.
Senator Claudette Tardif, former Dean of the Faculté Saint-Jean of the University of Alberta, underscored the fundamental principles of bilingualism and equality of rights of Canadian citizens: "Bilingualism and equality are at the core of the spirit of the Charter and of Canadian identity and values."
In regards to Canadian linguistic duality, she stated that: "It is inconceivable that a Prime Minister of Canada, the official representative and leader of the government of an officially bilingual country, should be unilingual. It is equally inconceivable that a Justice of the Supreme Court, the highest court in this bilingual and bijural country, should be unilingual."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper must appoint a Supreme Court Justice to fill the anticipated vacancy of the Honourable Mr. Justice Michel Bastarache, who will be retiring this summer. As Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Claudette Tardif reminded her colleagues that now is the moment to reiterate our commitment to the values of bilingualism and equality of language rights by calling for bilingual Justices in the Supreme Court of Canada.
For the full text of the statement made by Senator Claudette Tardif, please visit: http://sen.parl.gc.ca/ctardif/en/senate_speeches/2008-05-15-bilingualjudges-e.pdf