To begin with, I read Mr. Ménard's motion, which I find very interesting. I also read Ms. Jennings' amendment, which I find even more interesting.
If you read Mr. Ménard's motion—and he has said that the preamble will be retained—it says the following:
Whereas this modified review procedure bears flagrant signs of partisanship and ideological influence; It is moved: 1. That the government postpone the reform made to the composition of the judge selection committees and that it restore the previous procedure for these committees.
Up to that point, I can read it, it is comprehensible. Nevertheless, if you want to say that we are partisan, we have to know what happened previously. I think that this is logic itself. If you want to say that we are partisan and that we are ideologues, I want to know what occurred from 1993 to the present.
At that point, I began to consider the possibility of getting behind what Ms. Jennings was saying, that is that we should study the issue in-depth. I sincerely believe that the Liberals, like the Conservatives and Bloquists, want to know what has gone on since then. We are trading insults, accusing each other of being ideological or not, of being partisan or not. I don't agree. We must get to the bottom of things. To do this, people have to have an opportunity to say that the judicial system is impervious to partisan and ideological decisions.
I share the position taken by Mr. Ménard of the Bloc Québécois, but I also agree with the Liberals who want to investigate what occurred between 1993 and today. Certain things have been said in the House, and I will ascertain whether or not this is true. I'm still a lawyer, I still practice in Quebec, I still appear before judges and I do not want to have any doubt in my mind when I go before the court. That also applies to the future lawyer that Mr. Ménard will be, and to Mr. Brian Murphy, who is a lawyer as well. He does not want to have any doubts when he appears before the court about there possibly being any partisanship on our side, or ideological problems, as Mr. Ménard asserted. I don't want that. Justice must be impartial.
If you read my amendment, which I had translated into English as best I could because I didn't have access to all of the services last evening in order to have this done, you will note that I am in reality proposing a subamendment. Under this subamendment, we would start a subcommittee. I think that this issue is too important to deal with it in two or three meetings and then adopt it very quickly. No, we must study the issue in an in-depth manner. This is an important aspect under section 100 of the Constitution. We are the ones who appoint all members of the judiciary. We must therefore study the issue in an in-depth manner.