The appointment of a first bilingual Indigenous judge to the Supreme Court of Canada demonstrates, according to the Trudeau government, that reconciliation and the duality of the two official languages are not incompatible. If the appointment of judge Michelle O’Bonsawin was welcomed by the elected indigenous people who came to hear her on Wednesday, the latter also insisted that she should not be the only one. Indigenous languages and perspectives must have a greater place in the justice system, they insisted.
Justice O’Bonsawin’s Committee of the Whole testimony was emotional on Wednesday. “I have to pinch myself from time to time to make sure it’s not a dream,” she confessed, in front of a packed house. A high school student, this Franco-Ontarian from a small town in the north of the province had been discouraged from aiming for a career as a lawyer. “I was like, ‘Oh yeah? Take a good look at me, ”said the 48-year-old magistrate.
The emotion was also palpable for the elected aboriginals who were in turn moved to congratulate her on this historic appointment.
“Let there be no doubt: qualified Aboriginal candidates who speak both official languages exist,” said Justice Minister David Lametti, after highlighting the skills and qualities of the new appointee. English-French bilingualism, which the Liberals have made compulsory for access to the highest court in the country, “is essential”, he reiterated.
The government had to defend itself from considering exempting from the bilingualism requirements Aboriginal candidates who master an official language and an Aboriginal language. The bilingualism bonus will not be paid to them and the bilingualism criterion will remain imposed, we finally decided.
English-French bilingualism was further challenged by an aspiring candidate for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada. Najib Jutt argues that this application criterion puts a brake on diversity and equity for immigrants who, after learning English, are forced to also learn French. The Green Party exempts Indigenous candidates.
The political scientist at the Royal Military College, Stéphanie Chouinard, sees in this whole debate a new version of the questioning of official bilingualism. “We see the same rejection of French, except that the reasons have changed,” she observes. “Today, we see that it is a discourse that will come to be based more on diversity”, affirms the professor, who deplores that this discourse also depicts the English-speaking majority “as being the paragon of diversity” and the Francophonie as bringing together only “native Francophones”.
Place for Indigenous law
Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout argued that Canada’s Indigenous people need to be understood in their language in the country’s courts and Indigenous laws included in Canadian pluralist law. The Mi’kmaq and Nova Scotian Liberal Jaime Battiste invited the magistrate to specify how her appointment could change Indigenous law and laws.
The judge refrained from advancing, explaining that these questions “will definitely end up before the Supreme Court”.
The magistrate also did not want to comment on the debate surrounding official bilingualism and Aboriginal languages. “I would hope that by appearing in court in our own language we would have access to adequate translation,” she replied to New Democrat Lori Idlout.
Minister Lametti highlighted the contribution Justice O’Bonsawin will make. “It is extremely important that Indigenous peoples can see themselves in what are, quite frankly, colonial institutions. […] It is extremely important as a contribution to the deliberations of the nine justices of the Supreme Court. »
This perspective is that of a “Franco-Ontarian, an Indigenous mother” and a lawyer who became a judge of the Superior Court of Ontario in Ottawa in 2017. Justice O’Bonsawin recalled being treated, on the bench, from “Pocahontas of the North” by a lawyer who was chatting with a colleague. A discriminatory comment that she made sure to deplore with the latter. ” Otherwise [ce genre de situations] repeating itself. But she remains a magistrate first and foremost, she later added.
Conservative elected officials have expressed concern that the successor to Judge Michael Moldaver, an expert in criminal law, does not share this expertise. Justice O’Bonsawin’s areas of expertise include mental health law and labor and employment law. “There is accumulated expertise within the court and Judge O’Bonsawin will contribute to it,” retorted Minister Lametti.
The chair of the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court Judicial Appointments, Wade MacLauchlan, said he received 12 applications and interviewed six. The minister did not specify, in a press briefing, if there were other natives in the lot.