Michael Ignatieff

[Judicial Appointments, February 21st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the insinuation of the Prime Minister that this side of the House would put the public interests of our country—

[Judicial Appointments, February 21st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has made an absolutely uncalled for attack on the integrity of a member of the House, and in so doing has shown no respect for this institution.

Similarly, the Minister of Justice appears to show no respect for the institution of the Canadian judiciary. The issue is whether the Conservatives are prepared to listen to what the justices and chief justices of this country are saying.

Stop this foolish policy and reverse course.

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, they are improvising case by case as opposed to giving us a policy.

This minority government has done nothing to address these challenges linked to immigration. It promised an agency to assess foreign credentials, but has done nothing. It promised to reduce waiting lists for newcomers, but has done nothing.

Why so many empty promises? Why do the Conservatives not have a comprehensible immigration plan?

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is, the immigration minister is still scrambling to paper over the cracks in her government's immigration policy. She has no plan to help the thousands of Canadians who are discovering that they have lost their citizenship. She does not even seem to know how many there are. Let us find out.

When will the minister and the government stop improvising desperately on immigration and give us a plan?

[Government Accountability, February 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has still not acted on several key provisions of the federal accountability act, even though it received royal assent more than 60 days ago. We have seen no restriction on lobbying. We have seen no rules concerning conflict of interest. The Prime Minister delivers great speeches, but he does not deliver the goods.

When will the government honour its commitments in terms of accountability?

[Government Accountability, February 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister well knows we tried to improve the legislation consistently.

We want to know why, if it was such a priority, the government cannot get it enacted until April 1. If accountability was such a priority, if it was so important, will the Prime Minister explain why he continues to drag his feet on public appointments, on the lobbying ban? Why is he still dragging his feet?

[Government Accountability, February 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, more than 60 days have gone by since the accountability act received royal assent, but the Prime Minister has still not acted to deliver on its key provisions: restrictions on lobbying, not yet in force; conflicts of interest rules, not yet in force; a public appointments commission, promised, but nowhere to be seen. We have here on accountability the illusion of action, but Canadians want something real.

Why is the Prime Minister failing to deliver on his party's number one election promise?

[Judicial Appointments, February 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite has refused to answer the question. He knows full well that this side of the House has given the government cooperation on a number of important criminal justice bills.

Let me address another issue. There is a backlog of judicial vacancies and we know that the government has dragged its feet until it can change the way judges are appointed. If the government were serious about crime, it would fill the vacancies on the bench right now.

Will the government return the appointment process to the way it was and move swiftly to appoint judges meeting the appropriate standard of merit and not ideology?

[Judicial Appointments, February 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister has doubted the wisdom of charter jurisprudence for a long time. His suspicions about Canadian judges are also longstanding.

If this Prime Minister is intent on imposing an ultimate test for potential judges, can he tell this House which rights granted to Canadians by our courts should be revoked?

[Judicial Appointments, February 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this week the Prime Minister admitted that his government was changing the judicial appointment process to find judges willing to advance his party's criminal justice agenda.

The issue here is not who is tough on crime, but who is prepared to take appropriate measures on crime while respecting the independence of the judiciary.

If the Prime Minister is so certain that his government needs to meddle with the judicial system, can he tell the House what court decisions he would reverse?