Senator Boisvenu: Senator Gold, filling 600 vacancies is perfectly normal. I should hope you’ve filled some vacancies.

The absence rate for judges in courthouses in Canada is currently 15% because of vacancies.

Again, it is rare for a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to make a public and political statement. I will again quote Chief Justice Wagner, as follows:

Despite their best efforts, stays of proceedings are pronounced against individuals accused of serious crimes, such as sexual assault or murder, because of delays that are due, in part or in whole, to a shortage of judges.

Senator Gold, you must see that your arguments do not hold up. This is a failure of justice.

My question is pretty simple. As Chief Justice Wagner asks in this article, will the Prime Minister give this issue the importance it deserves rather than constantly travelling abroad?

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Senator Gold, you are no doubt aware of the very public statement made by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Richard Wagner, in a CBC article. In this article, Justice Wagner points to a “shortage of judges” and warns that the “current situation is untenable.”

His statement is directly aimed at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In fact, Justice Wagner stated, “The government’s inertia regarding vacancies and the absence of satisfactory explanations for these delays are disconcerting”.

In 2015, when the Liberals took office, there were approximately 45 vacancies in the federal courts. In 2019, there were 60. In 2023, there are 85 positions vacant.

Minister Lametti said in the Senate that he had a plan, but his plan seems to have failed.

How does the Trudeau government explain that failure?