Fund for Access to Justice in French in Alberta
In 1988, the Legislative Assembly of the Alberta diminished the rights of the French-speaking population. To give an appearance of generosity, the legislators nevertheless included in the Languages Act (1988) the right of every person to use English or French in oral communications in proceedings before the Court of Appeal of Alberta, the Court of Queen’s Bench of the Alberta and the Provincial Court of Alberta.
Although the Act foresees the possibility of making regulations for the purpose of carrying this into effect or to provide pertinent rules of the courts, nothing has been done. In the absence of regulations, procedures, policies to support the exercise of these language rights, it is obviously difficult to exercise the right to use the French language before the Courts of Alberta. Lawyers and their clients who attempted to use the French language before the Courts of Alberta inevitably faced a surprising number of obstacles to overcome. The obstacles to the usage of the French language before the Courts of the Alberta are such as to discourage even the most convinced French-speaking citizens.
The Fund for Access to Justice in French in Alberta aims to obtain jurisprudence supporting the usage of the both languages before the Courts of Alberta as well as rules of Courts, regulations made pursuant to the Languages Act, procedures, policies and forms to support the exercise of this right. You are invited to help the Fund to bring financial support to cases such as Gilles Caron v. Alberta Human Rights Commission (Court of appeal of Alberta) and The Queen v. François-Pierre Marquis (Provincial Court, in Calgary). An Internet page in the Virtal Resources Center is given to any person or corporation contributing 100$ or more. Please complete and return the coupon below to the: Fund for Access to Justice in French in Alberta
c/o Lawyer Gérard Lévesque
414 – 1800 14A Street S.W. , Calgary T2T 6K3 (E-mail: Levesque.Gerard@sympatico.ca )
I support language rights before the Courts. Please find herewith a cheque to the order of the Fund for Access to Justice in French in Alberta to the amount of: ________
Name : ____________________________________________
Address : _____________________________________
City: _____________________ Postal Code : _______________
Phone : ___________________ Email : ______________________________
Categories : Justice
Last Update : 2010-05-08
