Categories: Need to know

Supreme Court sides with unilingual traffic ticket claim

Alberta man should have received ticket in both official languages

by macleans.ca on Friday, February 4, 2011 1:24pm - 96 Comments

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed with an Alberta man that his ticket for an illegal left turn should be thrown out because it wasn’t offered in both official languages. The judges also said he deserves to have his legal costs reimbursed for raising an “important constitutional issue.” In a similar case last week, a New Brunswick judge acquitted a man of drunk driving after he claimed he wasn’t offered the option to be arrested in English. That’s despite the fact that the man, Donat Robichaud, is a francophone who lives in a predominantly French-speaking area of the province and he understood the police’s instructions.

Winnipeg Free Press

National Post

Tags: bilingualism

Enslaved

More fun times in the Cult of Trudeauvia, formally the English speaking country of Canada. Why we don't get rid of State imposed French is a mystery. 40 years and 100's of billions of dollars later, wasted away on a ridiculous social engineering scheme to impose a French speaking State, along with "special" status designation. Judicial activist, idiocy from the sorcerers of Pierre's "Supreme Court" dictating social policy to 85 % of the country that can't speak French, while Quebec is a unilingual French State complete with revisionist historical denial and language laws that ban the use of English. The witches and sorcerers appointed to Pierre's "Supreme Court" also ruled that Bill 101 was unconstitutional, but that didn't stop the Bill from being wielded like a weapon, so I propose that every Province draw up their own English Bill 101. Do what Quebec does, except instead of banning English, ban French. Or else we could just get rid of Pierre Trudeau's imposed French Language Act and his warped, imposed Charter. Free Canada from the deranged, indoctrinated lunacy of the Cult of Trudeauvia.

Irishgoon

Are you reel? What the h….ck is this opinion? Come back on earth. We are in year 2011!!!! Your are twisting the history in a funny way. I suggest that you come out of wherever you are from????

Enslaved

Come on irishgoof, you're going to give yourself another stroke, further damaging your already damaged brain. I suggest you slither back under the rock you slithered out from under.

george

Sometimes I wish common sense would prevail over political and legal correctness. Unfortunately, because most politicians are lawyers and ALL judges are lawyers, that will not be happening any time soon.

This incident reminds me of a former work mate. He was injured while driving a motorcycle. He claims he could have avoided the accident but he had the "right of way" so he drove into the automobile who's driver had failed to stop at a stop sign. Could just as easily been dead but……

I'd vote for the first politician and political party who had the guts to change the constitution so that French would only be an official language in provinces where French speaking Canadians actually made up the second largest ethnic bloc. The downside to that would be that then the lawyers would have a field day trying to prove the new constitution was "unconstitutional".

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like lawyers….. some of my best friends are lawyers….but only the ones who have a little common sense.
Judge Roy Bean

If I was President I would want a huge fence between myself and a country that is that braindead.

Irishgoon

Why dont you just do that!!
We have no use for people like you in Canada!!!
Irishgoon

Why don't you just do that!!!!!!
Irishgoon

Why don't you just do this!!!!

truenorth

@ Irishgoon….Is there a reason that you need to comment two or three times on every one of your posts…first time might have been a mistake….but every time ??…..just curious.

truenorth

Judge Judy would have never let this happen…just saying…..
Amanda

That's funny. So now all law enforcement officers are going to have to take lessons in Canada's other official language. That implementation is going to take a while. So next time, any of you guys plan on getting arrested, or charged, maybe you should use the same excuse. You'll probably get off because of "precedent".
r sampling

macleans should check the facts before they print such crap. the supreme court ruled that alberta should cover the costs but deferred a decision on the ticket to a later date
r sampling

this was an appeal and it did go to the supreme court
fuddle duddle

they will spend millions (if not billions) per year to provide one minority with language rights while ignoring the aboriginals and other minorities which in many provinces are in larger numbers ..meanwhile in quebec it assumed that people have to conform to a francophone society

Irishgoon

Are you out of your mind???? What billions ?? Alberta have violated more of any of the aboriginal laws in Canada. However, as an Anglophone, I never missed anything in Quebec and my rights are respected. What is that bull sh….t from Alberta? Obviously, the word "redneck" is well chosen for the type of opinions that are expressed in this colum.
Irishgoon

Are you reel? What billions?

Enslaved

What billions? That would be the billions of dollars wasted away on forcing an English speaking country to pay for the tribal, divisive, insidious, unnecessary French Language Act imposed by the deranged, narcissist, despot loving, fancy pants, Pierre Trudeau. You know… your hero… Glorious leader Pierre… inventor of the Cult of Trudeauvia.

steve

This is Awesome! I also found this, it's how to properly deal with them http://howtohacklife101.blogspot.com/2011/01/f-po…
Glenn

Quebec will always be treated differently. Don’t expect to see English on anything there, no matter how much French there is in the rest of Canada. It’s only “racist” to exclude French, but not English. But don’t get the idea that this is a double standard.
Glenn

Quebec will always be treated differently. Don’t expect to see English on anything there, no matter how much French there is in the rest of Canada. It’s only “racist” to exclude French, but not English. But don’t get the idea that this is a double standard.
Steve

This is such a stupid topic. The french dude was in Edmonton for whatever reason probably to make money.He can go home I hope and let Alberta pay for his stupidity because he can't even understand basic street signs. Stop driving and don't force to learn or print everything in french. I hope you go to the states they will just throw you in jail.
MBToday

Steve,
The guy is not a French dude, he is a Canuck! And you need to do a better job of proofing your posts.