Law Times

PAGE 6 COMMENT Law Times Group Publisher . . . . . . . Karen Lorimer Editorial Director . . . . . . . Gail J. Cohen Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glenn Kauth Staff Writer . . . . . . . Michael McKiernan Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . Katia Caporiccio CaseLaw Editor . . . . . Adela Rodriguez Art Director . . . . . . . . . . Alicia Adamson Account Co-ordinator . . . . Catherine Giles Electronic Production Specialist . . . . . . . . . . . . . Derek Welford Advertising Sales . . . . Kimberlee Pascoe Sales Co-ordinator . . . . . . . . . Sandy Shutt ©2011 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Editorial Obiter Should judges have gone to Deerhurst? O week, ntario judges and justices of the peace found themselves at the centre of public criticism last week following revelations that they spent $590,000 for three conferences at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont., last year. As the Toronto Sun reported last the expenditures covered one educational conference for judges and two for justices of the peace in 2010. Th e paper quoted Jane Warwick, execu- tive assistant to the chief justice, as saying there are savings when booking conferences at the same facility. She pointed out as well that hundreds of judges and justices of the peace attend the conferences. Th e reports are timely given the cur- rent climate of austerity and, of course, the upcoming provincial election. Certainly, it's hard to argue against ongoing educa- tion for our judges. At the same time, offi cials cancelled three other judicial programs planned for last year, Warwick told the Sun. It's important, then, to look at the value achieved and whether those spending the money looked for ways to minimize the cost by, for example, seek- ing competitive bids. Revelations about judges' conferences are reminiscent of concerns last year about a proposed event for Ontario Crown law- yers at the Blue Mountain Conference Centre near Collingwood, Ont. Cit- ing worries about public optics, offi cials with the Ministry of the Attorney Gen- eral balked at paying for the conference. As a result, that event never went ahead. But the ministry says it is supporting a conference at the White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., this November following the As- sociation of Law Offi cers of the Crown's grievance of the government's refusal to pay for the Blue Mountain event. Th e two situations prompt a number of questions. People who work in the private sector attend conferences all of the time, so is it unreasonable for gov- ernment employees to expect to stay up to date on their fi elds through educa- tion? Given the need to hold the line on spending, should the public sector look to hold such conferences in major cen- tres like Toronto in order to minimize travel and accommodation costs? With a provincial vote on the way, it's a good time to be discussing such issues. We have a large defi cit, and that means the government should be making every eff ort to cut back on frills. So in this case, one alternative would be to say that having an event in Hunts- ville, a place that virtually all conference participants would have to travel to, isn't the way to go. Instead, such events should take place in major cities where at least a good chunk of the people at- tending already live and therefore don't have to travel and get hotels. None of that is to say that having an event at a particular place is necessarily ex- cessive. Th e conference may be very valu- able, and the price might be reasonable. But as governments look to cut unneces- sary costs, it's time for new approaches, including to how we deal with things like conferences and continuing education. — Glenn Kauth English on one side and the French on the other. Fraser, the offi cial languages commissioner, is sick and tired of francophones coming to visit Ot- tawa — where their taxes go — and going back home saying that nobody speaks French there. It's all anecdotal, of course, so P Fraser wants some real facts: what we used to call statistics back in the old days until the government axed the long-form census. So Fraser hired people at Ip- sos Reid and paid them $40,000 to send their pollsters to Ottawa stores, restaurants, bars, and maybe even barbershops to fi nd out if it's true that you can't get service in French in the city. Is the capital of this suppos- edly bilingual country really bi- lingual? If anyone can fi nd out, it will be the Ipsos Reid people. Fraser says we'll see who's right, once and for all. He'll publish the results in his 2012 report. What he never counted on was a backlash from anti- French anglophones in the rest Heritage minister misguided on bilingualism law The oor Graham Fraser is caught between two old language adversaries, the of the country just for running a survey. It's as if fi nding out the truth might hurt. Leading the anger was, of all people, James Moore, the federal minister responsible for bilingualism. Moore attacked Fraser and accused him of going too far with his investigation into the use of offi cial languages. Maybe Moore would have preferred a voluntary survey. Moore's behaviour is weird. As heritage minister, he's sup- posed to be there to help, not hinder, the offi cial languages commissioner. Fraser won't point the fi nger at any particular fi rm or com- mercial institution or put anyone on the spot. He wants to have an accurate overview of the available services in both languages in the city's commercial establishments. But Moore, to everyone's surprise, said: "It is not the business of the federal govern- ment to monitor the language used by private companies with their customers." Moore is dead wrong. It's precisely the business of the Hill By Richard Cleroux government and Fraser's offi ce to monitor and promote bilin- gualism in the nation's capital. In fact, the Offi cial Languag- es Act says in black and white that "the government of Cana- da is committed to enhancing the bilingual character of the national capital region and to encouraging the business com- munity, labour organizations, and voluntary organizations in Canada to foster the recog- nition and use of English and French." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that. As offi cial languages commis- sioner, Fraser says it's his job "to see if the government lives up to its commitments." It's the work of Moore, as heritage minister, to oversee the implementation of the Offi cial Languages Act as it's written. Moore isn't anti-French by www.lawtimesnews.com nature. He's one of the best French-speaking anglophones in Prime Minister Stephen Harp- er's cabinet and a graduate of the French immersion program in British Columbia schools. He's known in cabinet to be a big fan of bilingualism. So why is he acting this way? Did his orders come down from on high? Perhaps he has never read the Offi cial Languages Act or maybe he missed the preamble and the part about his duty to promote bilingualism in the national capital region. It's always better for a cabinet minister to read the laws he's re- sponsible for enforcing rather than going by gut feeling or what others tell him to do. Fraser doesn't really know what to make it of it, especially as he's being swept into contro- versy from the other side of the issue that's as angry and unre- lenting as the anti-French hatred he has been facing in Ottawa. It comes as former Parti Québécois cabinet minister François Legault has founded a new conservative movement that wants Montreal stores and September 5, 2011 • Law timeS Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. 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ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries and materials should be directed to Sales, Law Times, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON, M1T 3V4 or call Karen Lorimer at 647-288-8018 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters. com, Kimberlee Pascoe at 905-841-6480 Ext. 4052 kimberlee.pascoe@thomsonreuters.com, or Sandy Shutt at sandra.shutt@thomsonreuters.com Law Times is printed on newsprint containing 25-30 per cent post-consumer recycled materials. Please recycle this newspaper. restaurant staff to deal with English-speaking customers only in French. Legault's right-wing move- ment, the Coalition pour l'avenir du Québec, is growing faster than the Tea Party in the United States. It has already passed Pre- mier Jean Charest's Liberals, the Parti Québécois, and Québec Solidaire in public opinion. Its hardline stand against English is one reason for its success. Th e coalition is using Mon- treal to make its stand against bilingualism. Fraser can't step in and declare Montreal the national capital of Canada and force people there to accept the Offi cial Languages Act provision that applies to Ot- tawa. Under our laws, Legault has every right to insist that Montreal be as French as Calgary is Eng- lish. Th at's something that prob- ably frustrates Fraser, who wishes the Offi cial Languages Act had a wider scope than it does. Richard Cleroux is a freelance reporter and columnist on Parlia- ment Hill. His e-mail address is richardcleroux@rogers.com.

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• E-disclosure
• Bilingual Furor
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