Thanks for being here.
Mr. Russell, you and I will probably have a conversation, and taking a look at you, I think you and I have bounced around this world for about the same amount of time and have experienced a lot of different things.
I'll quickly relate something to you. There was a board of eight people--two farmers, a bar owner, a hotel manager, an auto mechanic, an auto dealership owner, an ex-school teacher, and a retired police officer. They interviewed this guy to find out how he would manage a situation that required a lot of judging and a lot of controlling and looking after a situation. They wanted this individual to run a tight ship--in other words, to be tough on crime.
Being tough on crime isn't a bad thing. Crime is a bad thing. I think we should be tough on bad things. That statement doesn't bother me. I think that could come from people from most any walk of life. In fact, if you look around the country of Canada, you'll find citizens all over who are saying, for Pete's sake, get tough on these guys.
I've talked to a lot of lawyers who tell me that they actually have had clients who judge-shop. They know who tends to be more lenient and who tends to be more difficult, or harder, so they judge-shop. They postpone hearings to wait for the right judge.
I think all that's a bunch of nonsense. I think you have to get some consistency in fighting crime. And that aspect of sitting on the bench and making decisions has to come, in my view and I believe in the view of millions of Canadians, in a system that says that crime is bad and has to be dealt with--crimes at all levels.
This guy went through his interview, and he proposed the 4-F system: if you give me this position I'll be fair, I'll be fast--I won't waste time, I won't take forever to deal with the situation--I'll be firm, and the decision will be final. That individual convinced these board members that he should be the man for the job. That was me, when they appointed me principal of a high school.
Believe it or not, when you're a principal of a high school, you sit in a judging position. You have to make decisions. You have to be firm. You have to be fair. At the end of a year, checks and balances, which you mentioned, were always there. How did you perform? How are you doing? I guess I did okay, because I was there for 15 years. And I agree with checks and balances.
Now, in the States, you've said, there is a system of checks and balances that runs through the Senate committees and what not. Would a system of checks and balances, in your view, be an answer to the judges, who have a responsibility to run a system for the benefit of our society, and would that require some serious democratic reforms?