My colleague might think section 36 is balanced, but, based on procedural justice, it is actually not. We are talking about a right to appeal. The right makes it clear that it does not have to do with authorization or exclusive power, but that it is a right. With a procedural right, you cannot grant or deny a right willy-nilly.
On that note, as a member of the Barreau, let me remind you that all the stakeholders from the Canadian and Quebec bar associations have said and stressed that the right to appeal is fundamental. It is the audi alteram partem rule.
Furthermore, the Singh case points to section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.
And the right to appeal falls under fundamental justice.
Section 2 of the Canadian Bill of Rights says the following:
...no law of Canada shall be construed or applied so as to... deprive a person of the right to a fair hearing in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice for the determination of his rights and obligations;
Those texts did not fall out of the sky; they are Canada's legal reality. And I urge you to pass the amendment, which is consistent with those legal rules. The right to appeal is fundamental. It is an instrument that says that an individual has the right to a second chance if, during the first hearing, legal rules were violated, facts or evidence should not have been accepted, or new events have occurred and new evidence has come to light since the first hearing. That does not mean that a large trial would be held. It means that the individual has something to say that needs to be heard. Will that change the ruling? That will be up to the judge. But the person has that right. The whole Canadian law rests on audi alteram partem. We have the right to be heard.
I don't see why you are questioning something as fundamental as this principle. Our amendment is not going to revolutionize your bill or alter it significantly. It is simply going to take something out that should not be there in the first place. That is all.
Thank you.