SoVote

Hon. Arif Virani

Member of Parliament
Minister of Justice Attorney General of Canada
Liberal

Parkdale—High Park
Ontario
Voting Attendance: 64%
Expenses Last Quarter: $120,537.19

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 321 - May/30/24

Hon. Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)

May/30/24 2:59:21 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I do not accept the Bloc Québécois member's question. I have appointed judges to the bench at the fastest rate in Canadian history. Some 113 judges were appointed in my first 10 months. However, there is always more to do. We are in the process of getting it done. With regard to delays in the criminal justice system, we have invested $700 million to improve access to legal aid, which will help speed up trials.

83 words

Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

Hon. Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)

May/23/24 8:12:25 p.m.
Watch

Madam Chair, let me be crystal clear to the parliamentary secretary, and I thank him for his work, that partisanship, donation history and political involvement have absolutely zero impact or role in the appointments process. When I am making a suggestion to pursue an appointment, there is no evidence that is put before me with respect to any donation history, political involvement or partisan activity. I am pleased that this is a laughing matter for some of the lawyers opposite, but what I can say to these individuals is that 80% of the individuals who have actually been appointed, out of the 730 that we have appointed since 2015, have zero donation history of any kind. That is really critical to enhancing Canadians' confidence in the administration of justice in this country. I would say that I share that opinion. I am actually delighted when I travel within this country, or even outside of this country, when people talk to me about the high quality of jurists that we have in Canada. We will continue to appoint jurists of the highest quality who have gone through that JAC process, who have come out as either recommended or highly recommended, because that preserves the integrity of the system and preserves Canadians' confidence in our judicial system. The fact that we are also, at the same time, reflecting the diversity of communities is an additional bonus. What I said earlier and will say again is that 50% of the appointments we have made are women. That is critical in terms of ensuring that all people see themselves reflected on the bench in Canada.

271 words

Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

Hon. Arif Virani

May/23/24 7:34:26 p.m.
Watch

Madam Chair, when I was appointed, I was shocked to learn that the delays were caused by the need for security screening. Of course that is necessary, but with the changes I have put in place, we have created a triage system where judges are considered before other public servants.

50 words

Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

Hon. Arif Virani

May/23/24 7:30:28 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the first point I would make is that I have appointed 106 judges in nine months, with respect to the heckles opposite. That is the fastest rate in modern Canadian history. The second point I would make is that if all judicial vacancies evaporated, and there are only 6% around the country, we would still have issues that relate to court infrastructure, court personnel, backlogs and delays that are a result and a by-product of COVID and the need to modernize our court processes.

87 words

Context: House Hansard - 293 - Mar/21/24

Hon. Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)

Mar/21/24 2:58:18 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to congratulate all Ismaili Canadians celebrating Navroz today. Navroz Mubarak. With respect to the question asked by the member opposite, I would point out that I have been in this post for seven months. I have already appointed 74 judges in seven months. The average number of appointments made by the Conservative government was about 60 each year. I am working twice as fast as the previous government. I will continue to do so.

80 words

SoVote

Minister of Justice Attorney General of Canada

Hon. Arif Virani