The Superior Court of Ontario employs 57 judges who can preside over a hearing in French, but their identity remains a mystery since the provincial court refuses without justification to share it. The situation leaves several lawyers perplexed, the latter judging that this type of information is of public order.
The duty seeks to obtain the names of bilingual judges in Ontario in order to validate their level of bilingualism with third parties. 114 judges of the Court of Appeal, the Superior Court and the Court of Justice in Ontario can preside over a hearing or hear appeals in French, which represents approximately 17% of the total number of magistrates. Half of the bilingual judges hold a position in the Superior Court, a position they access thanks to the appointment of the Minister of Justice. 10 of them are at the Court of Appeal. This last group includes in particular Judge Paul Rouleau, commissioner of the Commission on the state of emergency.
The identity of the judges of the Superior Court of Ontario who can preside over a hearing in French is however unknown. “You would think that publishing the language skills of members would be in the public interest, especially in a province that recognizes French and English as the official languages of the courts,” said François Larocque, professor specializing in language law at the University from Ottawa. “Honestly, I don’t understand why this is secret information,” reacts Frank Addario, a Toronto lawyer who is interested in the transparency of the Supreme Court.
The chief justice of the highest court in the country, Richard Wagner, has also campaigned on several occasions for a more transparent judicial system. In 2018, he said that “judges and courts need to adjust and explain who they are and what they do”. Four years later, he argued that the courts needed to be more transparent if they were to win the public’s trust. Revealing the identity of the bilingual judges of the Superior Court “will not affect the functioning of the court or its authority”, assesses Charles-Maxime Panaccio, professor of law at the University of Ottawa.
The duty contacted certain regional judges of the Superior Court to obtain the information. “I assure you that the Court recognizes the importance of offering services in both official languages,” replied Regional Judge Calum MacLeod, before referring the newspaper to the Chief Judge’s office.
Not within Commissioner’s purview
The French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario, Kelly Burke, initially stated that she would not comment on the subject since the Ombudsman Act does not apply to judges or to the functions of a court. In an additional email, she added that she “always aims to improve government services in French in all sectors, including justice.”
The Association of French-Speaking Jurists of Ontario (AJEFO), for its part, says it does not have information or documentation related to the identity of bilingual judges. Its outgoing president, Mr.e Marc Sauvé, however, was able to confirm that the ten judges of the Ontario Court of Appeal were indeed bilingual. The Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs, which is responsible, among other things, for administering the Superior Court appointments system, had no information on the identity of its bilingual judges, nor did the office of the Minister of Justice.
“We firmly believe that all Canadians should be able to access the justice system in the official language of their choice. So much so that it is a constitutional right to be heard in either language, and the Superior Court must make sure of that,” said Chantalle Aubertin, the minister’s spokesperson. Justice David Lametti.
The Canadian Judicial Council, an organization created by the Canadian Parliament to improve the quality of judicial services in superior courts in Canada, explained that each court determines which of its judges can preside over a hearing in both official languages and that he had “nothing else to add”. On its website, the council writes that all of its work “aims to build and maintain the confidence of Canadians in their federally appointed judges.”
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.