Question Period Note: Translation of Supreme Court decisions

A Quebec organization, Droits collectifs Québec, has filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Official Languages concerning the Official Languages Act obligations with respect to the translation of Supreme Court decisions. This complaint is based on the absence of versions in both official languages for all Supreme Court decisions that were rendered before the OLA came into force in 1970 and their availability online.

Our government recognizes that access to the decisions of federal courts in both official languages is important to ensuring fair access to justice for all Canadians.

The Official Languages Act, that we modernised, specifies that, from now on, important decisions, orders and judgments of the federal courts must be made available simultaneously in both official languages.

And we have gone even further with the modernisation, by introducing provisions to ensure that every Canadian can be heard and understood by a judge in the official language of their choice before federal courts.

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