- 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
- May/23/24 10:13:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her contribution. I would underscore that bail decisions are made by individual justices of the peace or provincial court judges across the country all of the time. They are always trying to work according to the three principles I mentioned, which are flight risks, the likelihood of reoffending, and the message being sent to the community to ensure confidence in the administration of justice.
With respect to police actions, I think that bears some inquiry into why a police pursuit was taking place in the wrong direction on the highway in that instance.
I will share with the hon. member the incredible sadness and sympathy that I feel for the family that suffered such a horrific loss. What we are working constantly to do is to ensure fewer fatal accidents of that nature and that we are keeping Canadians as safe as possible at all times.
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- May/23/24 10:08:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a lot to say. First, I added people to my ministerial team. I sped up background checks for candidates. I extended the eligibility period for a candidate who has already been assessed to three years. I extended the terms of each committee that makes recommendations on judicial appointments. I am working in close collaboration with judges themselves to understand their needs, for example in Quebec, in such expertise, in criminal law, in family law, et cetera. We are working as fast as we can to appoint more judges and to provide judges to the courts that need them.
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- May/23/24 9:57:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first, I thank my colleague for his opening comments.
Second, Quebec obviously has a civil law system, which is different. That is very clear in our customs and conventions. That is why there are always three judges on the Supreme Court of Canada who are civil law experts. The court needs that when drafting decisions and ruling on cases from Quebec.
In my younger days, maybe 27 years ago, I myself spent a semester studying law at Université Laval so I could be more conscious of and informed about Quebec's civil law system.
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- May/23/24 9:07:07 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would reiterate for the member's edification that I do not make individual bail decisions in a country like ours and in a democracy like ours. Those are made by justices of the peace or judges around the country.
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
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- May/23/24 7:36:30 p.m.
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Madam Chair, on a number of occasions, I have done my best to reduce the court backlogs. Obviously, that involves appointing judges. I am doing my best to fill those positions. In addition, I am currently working with Chief Justice Wagner on a committee on modernizing court operations. The committee is working on ways to improve processes in courts across Canada. For example, in the digital age, we are trying to find ways to speed up justice using artificial intelligence for complainants or people appearing before our courts, whether in a criminal or civil trial.
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- May/23/24 7:35:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the process has improved because the candidate assessments are now valid for three months instead of two and the mandates of the judicial advisory committee members are now three years instead of two years.
To answer the previous question, the Court of Appeal needs two judges and the Quebec Superior Court needs six.
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- May/23/24 7:34:26 p.m.
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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.
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- May/23/24 7:31:25 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we have increased the number of judges in this country over the last nine years by 116 in total.
The number of judges that I have been able to appoint in nine short months in this office is 106. The average of the Harper government, annually, was 65. We are literally working at twice the rate of the previous Conservative government.
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- May/23/24 7:30:28 p.m.
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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.
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- Mar/21/24 2:59:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a rather important question. What I want to point out to all Canadians who are watching right now is that we have never had any former Liberal staffers sit on a committee that recommends judicial appointments. That is not the case in my own province of Ontario, for example.
We put measures in place to prevent partisanship, to appoint top-notch judges who reflect the diversity and bilingualism needed by judges, not just in Quebec, but across Canada.
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- Feb/6/24 2:40:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, judges in Canada are extremely important. Their role is extraordinarily important. The need to be bilingual is a very important priority and not just for judges in Quebec, but for judges across Canada. When we took office in 2015, we revised the process for appointing judges. This includes the fact that bilingualism is a priority for us when it comes to assessing applications.
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- Nov/6/23 3:14:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Justice Moreau is a proud Franco-Albertan and previous chief justice of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta. She has a wealth of experience as a trial lawyer as well as nearly 30 years of experience as a judge. She is a talented legal mind, an outstanding jurist and an expert in criminal law. Her appointment is a milestone for our country. With Justice Moreau, the judges on Canada's Supreme Court are now represented by a majority of women for the first time in Canadian history.
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