Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Thank you for being here today, minister.

(1540)

I spoke to you privately about something, and I mentioned it at the Legal Committee. I want to mention it again: Thank you for trying to make the Supreme Court of Canada more bilingual. I want to recognize the work of my former Senate colleagues Tardif and Chaput, who tried to achieve this goal.

Minister, ever since your government came into power, you have tried very hard to get diverse nominations from the judicial advisory committees in different provinces. For example, in my own province, there are 11 vacancies for the Supreme Court. What is the delay? Why are there delays? Is it because the advisory committees are not providing diverse names? What is the reason for the delays?

The Hon. the Speaker: Thank you, minister. Your time has expired.

[Translation]

(Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, to receive a Minister of the Crown, the Honourable David Lametti, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, appeared before honourable senators during Question Period.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, we welcome today the Honourable David Lametti, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, to ask questions relating to his ministerial responsibilities.

Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, senators do not need to stand. Questions are limited to one minute and responses to one-and-a-half minutes. The reading clerk will stand 10 seconds before the expiry of these times. Question Period will last one hour.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Judge Maryka Omatsu and Andrea Margles. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator McPhedran.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

(The sitting of the Senate was suspended.)

(The sitting of the Senate was resumed.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, Question Period will begin at 3 p.m.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Paul Quassa, a former Premier of Nunavut, as well as Elisapee Quassa and Akuttuugaq Quassa. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Patterson.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Daniel J. Song, K.C. and Roger Thirkell. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Martin.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Brian Cormier. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Hartling.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is leave granted, honourable senators?

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Honourable senators, I see that this item has reached its fifteenth day. Accordingly, with leave of the Senate, I propose that study of this item stand until the next sitting of the Senate.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, the time for Question Period has expired.

I know all senators will want to join me in thanking Minister Lametti for being with us today. Thank you, minister. We look forward to seeing you again.

(At 4 p.m., pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on September 21, 2022, the Senate adjourned until 2 p.m., tomorrow.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Zeb Jiva. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Ravalia.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Hon. Claude Carignan: Minister, on April 26, you testified before the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency, at which time you were asked for several documents that were used to support the decision-making process, and you invoked cabinet confidence privilege multiple times.

On June 28, the Public Order Emergency Commission issued a press release that read as follows:

The Government of Canada has responded to a request from Commissioner Paul Rouleau and agreed not to claim Cabinet privilege over the documents that Cabinet considered in making the decision to declare a public order emergency . . . .

I will also quote the statement by the commission’s counsel that was reported in the press release:

This exceptional step recognizes the fundamental importance of the Commission’s work and how critical these documents are in inquiring into why the Government declared a public order emergency . . . .

How do you explain this double standard? Cabinet privilege was waived for the Rouleau commission, but not for the joint committee.

Is that not disrespectful to the institution of Parliament?

Hon. David Lametti, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada: Thank you, senator, for this important question.

Naturally, the act provided for a study. We have started the process for this parliamentary study with a former deputy minister who will look into several issues, including the one you raised, medical cannabis, and the potential circumvention of the regulations for other purposes.

He will be addressing that issue and investigating it. We are awaiting his report. I can tell you that I will examine and read this report carefully to find the answer to that question.

Senator Ringuette: I’m sorry. I understand I was asking a question and requesting an answer, but as far as I know, there is nothing in this bill that says that the new one-zone island will be at the lowest denominator. Anyway, I hope that you as the sponsor of the bill will seek clarification to the question I’m asking. Thank you for looking into it.

Hon. Renée Dupuis: Welcome to the Senate, minister. In your December 16, 2021, mandate letter, the Prime Minister said your top priority is, and I quote:

 . . . to ensure that all Canadians have access to fair and just treatment before the law. This includes reforming and modernizing the criminal justice system . . . .

Women have long known that the criminal justice system, as established in the Canadian Criminal Code of 1892, is based on policies and perceptions that constitute systemic discrimination against women. The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs is currently studying Bill C-5, and witnesses have been telling us again and again that women do not trust the criminal justice system because it treats them poorly, whether they are the victims or the accused. Will you commit to overhauling criminal sentencing principles and including, among other things, women’s perspectives as well as—

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Welcome to the Senate, minister.

As part of the study of Bill C-5, which proposes to abolish 20 or so minor offences that have been identified as having disproportionate repercussions on Indigenous peoples, Black Canadians and marginalized Canadians, we heard from witnesses who suggested that we add an amendment for the other penalties for which minimum penalties would continue to apply. This means that there would be some built-in discretion given to the courts to hand down a penalty that could veer from the minimum penalty that would continue to apply in these cases. What do you think of this suggestion, minister?