A Right to a Trial in French Does Not Mean a Right to a Decision Written in French. In this Small Claims Court case, a bilingual French/English trial was conducted, but the French speaking litigant launched an appeal claiming that his Charter Rights were violated because he did not receive the court’s decision in French. The Divisional Court ruled that under section 126(1) of the Courts of Justice Act, RSO 1990, c.43 (“CJA”), the French litigant was entitled to a bilingual hearing (which he received), but section 126(2)8 specifically permits the court to write its reasons in French or in English. A translated version could be obtained if one was requested under section 126(2)9 of the CJA. The French litigant failed to make such a request. The court concluded that “the fact that the judge wrote his reasons in English does not give rise to a valid argument on appeal.”
TD General Insurance & TD Meloche Monnex c. Mulumba, 2022 ONCS 477
https://www.canlii.org/fr/on/onscdc/doc/2022/2022oncs477/2022oncs477.html