Justice  Mr. Speaker, once again let me just correct the record also in terms of the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party, according to a long-standing practice, did not object to the naming of Federal Court judges to the Supreme Court and certainly did not object specifically to the naming

Justice  Mr. Speaker, once again, the NDP critic spoke very highly of Justice Nadon, who was a well-respected jurist. We decided to proceed with an appointment to the Supreme Court according to long-standing criteria. Our independent experts also recommended those criteria. That is why

Justice   experts had long understood, that Federal Court judges were eligible. I confirmed that with various legal opinions. That is why we proceeded according to long-standing practice, and that was the appropriate course of action.

Justice   agreed that as had been long-standing practice, Federal Court judges were eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has now subsequently ruled, to our great surprise, that such is not the case in the case of Quebec. It is still the case elsewhere

Justice  . They all agreed that the long-standing view that Federal Court judges were eligible should not be challenged. The government proceeded on this basis.