Appointing Unilingual Lieutenant-Governor Violated Charter: Judge

The appointment of a unilingual lieutenant-governor violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a New Brunswick judge has ruled.

A 52-page decision by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Tracey DeWare was released on Thursday.

DeWare wrote that the lieutenant-governor in New Brunswick, the country’s only officially bilingual province, must be able to perform all aspects of the role in both English and French.

Brenda Murphy, who was appointed to the role in late 2019, is not bilingual.

But the justice stopped short of calling the appointment by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unconstitutional.

“A declaration that the Order-in-Council appointing Brenda-Louise Murphy was unconstitutional and of no force and effect would render ever law, decree, or appointment executed by Lieutenant-Governor Murphy likewise of no force and effect,” said the ruling.

“This Court is very mindful of the potential chaos which could ensue following an order declaring Lieutenant-Governor Murphy’s appointment as unconstitutional and therefore null and void.”

DeWare said it will be up to the federal government to determine what actions to take going forward.

“The timing and the extent of that action I leave to the executive arm of government to determine,” she wrote.

The court case was launched by the Acadian Society of New Brunswick (la Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick), which said Thursday that it welcomed the decision.

In a news release, the society described the decision as an important step toward recognizing the equal status of the province’s two official languages and their linguistic communities.

The federal government has 30 days to appeal the court’s decision, according to the society.