Justice committee  Yes, perhaps. Can people hear me?

Justice committee  Thank you for that. I apologize for the technology problems. I'm not sure it's my fault.

Justice committee  I agree with Ms. Conlon on her description of Nova Scotia. I'm not sure the analogy to the regulation of judges is the appropriate analogy. The function of law societies is to promote the public interest in the practice of law. Just because they don't necessarily make their processes transparent is not necessarily the reason the CJC should make its processes transparent.

Justice committee  I would simply say that we agree with The Advocates' Society that appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal would be a good move. The only clarification I would make, though, is that there's a nuance in this. If you look carefully at proposed subsection 146(2), which deals with the fees that are paid, it says: no payments to lawyers representing judges are to be made in respect of any judicial review of any decision made under this Division This seems to acknowledge that perhaps there in fact could still be a judicial review process.

Justice committee  You're absolutely right that these are unique proceedings. You're absolutely right that judicial independence is vital. However, judicial independence is part of a larger picture of promoting public confidence in the administration of justice, not just public confidence in the independence of the judiciary.

Justice committee  Thank you very much. I will go directly to proposed new section 87 of the act. This is the only new section that explicitly addresses the rights of complainants. It says: “The Council shall establish policies respecting the notifying of complainants of any decisions made.” That's all that is given to complainants in the process.

Justice committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair. Thank you for inviting me to appear as a witness on Bill C-9. My name is Richard Devlin and I'm a professor at Dalhousie law school in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I'm here as a member of the board of the Canadian Association for Legal Ethics. I served as its founding president and as chair of the board for several years.