Those are very good questions, and I don't have all the answers to them.
Did I find the process with respect to the picking of the Supreme Court nominee and the eventual appointment of Justice Rothstein to be a good one? Absolutely. We worked very cooperatively with all parties, including your former colleague, Mr. Marceau, from the Bloc, who was on that committee. In fact, he chaired the committee looking at the issue of appointments to the lower courts, below the Supreme Court of Canada.
On the issue of the Supreme Court of Canada appointment and whether we should continue with that, certainly the Prime Minister has indicated that he is in favour of that. He would like to see that carried on. Certainly, at least at a minimum, what we did should be carried on. I can disclose to you that there has been a request that the committee reconvene in order to talk about the process, because we haven't had that opportunity yet to talk about what we learned from the process and perhaps what suggestions or recommendations we can give to the Prime Minister in terms of future hearings.
With respect to the lower courts--and I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but the courts that are all answerable to the Supreme Court of Canada, if I can say it that way--I'm not sure whether the same process is appropriate, given the numbers of judgeships that become vacant. We do have a process we examined, and the report did identify certain concerns about the way judges have been appointed.
There are a number of provincial bodies that consider provincial appointments, for example, and I think there's a lot to be learned from some of those provincial committees that recommend appointments to the provincial bench. Certainly I'm more familiar with the Manitoba situation, but I believe Ontario's situation is very similar to that.
The important point that I think we want to make in the appointment of judges, especially to the Supreme Court of Canada, is to introduce these individuals to the Canadian population. That's what I kept hearing after that hearing process, that people understood that these individuals--and particularly Justice Rothstein, who's the only one we've had that kind of process with--are flesh and blood. They are human beings, very much so. People really appreciated it. They felt that they had a significant understanding of who the individual was. I think knowing the judges in that way will also result in a better acceptance of their decisions. When you know the decision-maker, it is easier to accept the decision. So in terms of the credibility of the courts, it's an important step to take, but I'm willing to work with the committee on those kinds of recommendations.