Stalling for Time? No, Just Taking Their Time.
The ideas come fast and furious to consolidate the French-language position within Canada. As though official bilingualism is tenuous and in imminent danger of being dismantled. If only. The concept of the two founding nations and the guarantee by the British to the French that their language, customs and 'nationhood' would be respected, unlike what usually pertained historically with conquest was meant as a conciliatory gesture to a traditional colonial-era challenger with far-ranging consequences.
On the part of the British, it was a generous offering. As for the French, they have never lost their sense of aggrievement, that their presence represented the true and authentic conquest of the land. That sense of entitlement that was yanked out from under them has never melted into history, but has always simmered under the surface. And that resentment is seen now at its most irritating, when mischief rears its ugly head as French speakers continue to wreak havoc with their insistence on French-language dominance.
The private member's bill that NDP Member of Parliament Yvon Godin introduced, spoke appealingly to the Liberal-Left coalition of the Bloc Quebecois, the NDP and the Liberal party. The Conservative Party of Canada, never as convinced as the other three of the practicality and usefulness of official bilingualism lost the vote in the House of Commons. That bill, C-232, that would make it imperative that all prospective appointees to the Supreme Court of Canada be fully bilingual satisfies the virtuous-minded and the language-jubilant, but it offers no judicial points for fair justice.
Supreme Court justices must demonstrate before they are eligible for consideration to be appointed to the Supreme Court, that they are full conversant with Canadian law and the Constitution, that they are outstanding professional candidates with a working history of understanding and applying the law, issuing judgements that are a credit to their level of expertise and the needs of the country in the administration of justice. It is their professional credentials as outstanding jurists that place them on a short list.
Bill C-232 seeks to add the bilingualism clause as a pre-requisite for consideration. Which would effectively isolate many fine minds skilled in jurisprudence who live and received their professional education in parts of the country that are not bilingual. The passing of that bill would clarify that the ability to speak French is the single most important determinant of suitability to sit on the high court, not expertise in administering the law. The end result would be francophone choices not necessarily representing the most skilled, experienced minds, but bowing to pressure by French Canada.
That private member's bill sits now in the Senate, the chamber of sober second thought. That very chamber that is now majority-led by Conservative-era appointees. Who, like their elected House of Commons counterparts are not given to NDP-sponsored enthusiasms, and who do not see the utility of overruling experience and expertise by enshrining language-rights any further than they now happen to be installed.
The Conservative senators are being charged with following orders from the Prime Minister.
Senate majority leader Marjory LeBreton, a stalwart of Prime Minister Harper's, rejects out of hand taking orders from anyone, reminding critics that Bill-232 represents a private member's bill and as such is considered to be low on the order paper. One can only hope it is seen to be equally low enough in merit to deserve rejection. Happily, that appears to be the consensus from the Senate's Conservative seats.
"The government is fundamentally opposed to the bill because we believe that we must be guided by the principles of merit and legal excellence" explained Senator LeBreton, observing further that the bill clearly discriminates against unilingual Canadians, with the end effect, if passed, of reducing the pool of qualified candidates for the Supreme Court.
It comes as no little relief to see rational intelligence prevail over the warped ideology of language-imperatives where a minority language demographic manipulates the rights of majority-language aspirants.
On the part of the British, it was a generous offering. As for the French, they have never lost their sense of aggrievement, that their presence represented the true and authentic conquest of the land. That sense of entitlement that was yanked out from under them has never melted into history, but has always simmered under the surface. And that resentment is seen now at its most irritating, when mischief rears its ugly head as French speakers continue to wreak havoc with their insistence on French-language dominance.
The private member's bill that NDP Member of Parliament Yvon Godin introduced, spoke appealingly to the Liberal-Left coalition of the Bloc Quebecois, the NDP and the Liberal party. The Conservative Party of Canada, never as convinced as the other three of the practicality and usefulness of official bilingualism lost the vote in the House of Commons. That bill, C-232, that would make it imperative that all prospective appointees to the Supreme Court of Canada be fully bilingual satisfies the virtuous-minded and the language-jubilant, but it offers no judicial points for fair justice.
Supreme Court justices must demonstrate before they are eligible for consideration to be appointed to the Supreme Court, that they are full conversant with Canadian law and the Constitution, that they are outstanding professional candidates with a working history of understanding and applying the law, issuing judgements that are a credit to their level of expertise and the needs of the country in the administration of justice. It is their professional credentials as outstanding jurists that place them on a short list.
Bill C-232 seeks to add the bilingualism clause as a pre-requisite for consideration. Which would effectively isolate many fine minds skilled in jurisprudence who live and received their professional education in parts of the country that are not bilingual. The passing of that bill would clarify that the ability to speak French is the single most important determinant of suitability to sit on the high court, not expertise in administering the law. The end result would be francophone choices not necessarily representing the most skilled, experienced minds, but bowing to pressure by French Canada.
That private member's bill sits now in the Senate, the chamber of sober second thought. That very chamber that is now majority-led by Conservative-era appointees. Who, like their elected House of Commons counterparts are not given to NDP-sponsored enthusiasms, and who do not see the utility of overruling experience and expertise by enshrining language-rights any further than they now happen to be installed.
The Conservative senators are being charged with following orders from the Prime Minister.
Senate majority leader Marjory LeBreton, a stalwart of Prime Minister Harper's, rejects out of hand taking orders from anyone, reminding critics that Bill-232 represents a private member's bill and as such is considered to be low on the order paper. One can only hope it is seen to be equally low enough in merit to deserve rejection. Happily, that appears to be the consensus from the Senate's Conservative seats.
"The government is fundamentally opposed to the bill because we believe that we must be guided by the principles of merit and legal excellence" explained Senator LeBreton, observing further that the bill clearly discriminates against unilingual Canadians, with the end effect, if passed, of reducing the pool of qualified candidates for the Supreme Court.
It comes as no little relief to see rational intelligence prevail over the warped ideology of language-imperatives where a minority language demographic manipulates the rights of majority-language aspirants.
Labels: Government of Canada, Human Relations, Justice, Politics of Convenience
posted by Pieface | 6:22 PM
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