If the federal NDP caucus splits over the issue of official bilingualism, of all things, it might look inevitable in hindsight. NDP MP François Choquette’s bill would have mandated that Supreme Court judges be fluently bilingual. Considerably fewer visible minority Canadians are bilingual, according to a 2007 report from the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. Saganash takes a narrow, specific perspective in criticizing a bilingualism requirement for the Supreme Court. There is no earthly reason to impose such an artificial barrier to a more diverse and representative Supreme Court except as a symbolic gesture of a very specific kind of inclusivity.

Source: National Post November 10, 2017 23:26 UTC