You've probably all had a chance to look over the motion, which reads as follows:
That the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights conduct a thorough study of the practice under section 4.1(1) of the Department of Justice Act since its enactment: 4.1(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister shall, in accordance with such regulations as may be prescribed by the Governor in Council, examine every regulation transmitted to the Clerk of the Privy Council for registration pursuant to the Statutory Instruments Act and every bill introduced in or presented to the House of Commons by a minister of the Crown, in order to ascertain whether any of the provisions thereof are inconsistent with the purposes and provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Minister shall report any such inconsistency to the House of Commons at the first convenient opportunity; and report its findings and recommendations to the House.
I will make no secret of what led me to put forward such a motion. It was a situation that gave me serious cause for concern, whether founded or not. I am not making any value judgment on the proceedings that were initiated, nor do I have any intention to put anyone on trial here. However, when a government employee says that he was asked to do something illegal and that the test set out in subsection 4.1(1) of the Department of Justice Act was not applied, it weakens my confidence in the system.
Ours is a system where the rule of law must reign supreme. I always assumed that, as far as studies of government or Senate bills went, the necessary legal opinions had been sought and the appropriate tests passed. I was under the reasonable impression that that was the case, whether I was for or against the political content of the bill.
After asking the minister some questions and considering the answers I got, I had the sense I was being told that information was private or confidential, that it involved the type of relationship the lawyers around this table are used to. In short, we were told that this was a matter of lawyer-client privilege. The problem there is that the client is the Canadian public. It's not me or you, it's not the minister or department employees. It is, in fact, Canadians.
So that is the backdrop for my motion, which I would like the committee to study when it has time and not for the purposes of a witch hunt, of course. You can see the motion was not written in such a way as to impose a new agenda, as the one we have is already quite full. We have to study the issue swiftly and seriously at some point to, at the very least, assure ourselves that the tests described in subsection 4.1(1) are followed, that the necessary approvals are obtained and that genuine efforts are made to ensure the content of bills is consistent with the Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It seems to me that should go without saying.
No such study has been done in a long time, and I think it would be worthwhile to do. I often talk about perceived justice. Justice is one thing, but perceived justice is another. When the entire system is called into question, whether rightly so or not—and I don't want to get into the details of the case—the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights has a duty to report to Parliament on whether the tests are being applied correctly and whether the process can carry on as usual. But one thing is crucial: the importance of the rule of law in Canada cannot be overstated. That is the crux of my motion.