Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, I would like to thank my colleague Réal for allowing me to use some of his time. I feel it is important to say something. Furthermore, I discussed it with him because I am one of the members of Parliament who does not have a legal background. I had already heard talk of the significance of appointing a policeman to the advisory committee, but I did not expect to find myself at the justice committee later on. It would seem important for me to give you my perspective on the subject.
First of all, the problem is not one of political partisanship, unless the minister is saying that he wants only Conservative policemen to sit on these advisory committees. I do not believe, however, that he wishes to go that far.
My colleague Réal Ménard is right: the issue is one of balance. In society, there is the executive, which is the cabinet and the Prime Minister, the legislative, which includes all of the members of Parliament and which votes on bills, as well as the judiciary. When we ensure that each of these three components can act in its respective context, we create an important balance in society. When we start to tinker with this balance, this challenges fundamental ideas about society. We must be very careful before acting.
I understand that it is the minister who, in the end, appoints the selection committees on behalf of the executive. He does not require a legislative instrument in order to make the change. However, he submits the issue to the justice committee and its members try and make a contribution in order to maintain a fair balance in society.
In my opinion, there is a problem on the judiciary front. In this case, there are two components that form the judiciary: the judges and the police. The latter carry out investigations and, depending on the province, it is either the police or the Attorney General who would lay charges. I have often read in court decisions that it is important that there be no conflict of interest in a judge's decision, but it is equally important that there not be any appearance of conflict of interest in the decision.
If we allow the police, even if they are in the minority on the advisory committee, to have a say in the appointment of judges, we are beginning to toy with an appearance of conflict of interest. Not that a judge will tell himself that a policeman supported his nomination and that he therefore owes him something, but there is nevertheless a certain appearance of conflict which, in my opinion, could jeopardize the perfect balance that we currently have.
That, Mr. Minister, is where the problem lies. I am asking you for further explanations because I would prefer the police continue to carry out their investigations, and in some provinces, to lay charges. The poor guy who has been charged but who knows he is innocent would want to be absolutely sure that the judge hearing his case does not owe his appointment to anyone, other than those members of society who have the power to appoint him, that is to say you, yourself and the executive, the cabinet.
I therefore need to be reassured because I have the impression that we're opening the door to the appearance of a conflict of interest. If we want Canadians, in Quebec as well as in Canada, to have confidence in their justice system, we must separate the police from the judges. Their work is complementary. We cannot proceed with appointments or decision-making that could lead citizens to think that society is not functioning as it should.
