Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd just like to add my two cents to the discussion. And, in fact, Mr. Chair, I'll keep my remarks as brief as possible.
Since the parliamentary secretary is suggesting that we proceed by way of an opposition motion, I hope he'll be able to answer my question. If the opposition were to put forward a motion to allow the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to undertake a study on the process for the nomination of judges, would the government support it? I think that's a question worth asking.
Just a bit of history here, and I think the minister was quite clear on the matter. Prior to the Conservative government's election in 2006, no process for the nomination of judges existed. I think everyone agreed that we needed to do something about that. The Conservatives tried to put in place a process, which unfortunately did not work. Even the minister came here and told the committee that the process had unfortunately failed.
So I think the question that needs to be asked is this. What do we do in that case? No process used to exist, and the one that was put in place ended up not working. Does that mean we are simply going to go along with having no process in place? If so, the Conservatives would be going back on their promise to establish a more public and inclusive process. It would be a shame to go back to how things were prior to 2006 and to be deprived of any process at all. At least the government had a desire to establish a process. And, according to the minister, that process did not work. So it needs to be improved, reviewed or completely overhauled. If the government votes against our motion today, is it likely that it will change its mind in the House and that the outcome will be different? What will the government say? Will it say that the process it put in place did not work? Will it say that it tried but wasn't successful, and so it is better to have no process at all?
That would be pretty disappointing. But it would save the government a lot of headache, given the heat it took for its nomination of Judge Nadon. It was repeatedly criticized on the issue. As for the validity of the nomination process, I think it is in the best interest of every parliamentarian to try to achieve the best process possible.
Are the Conservatives telling us that, because the process they tried to put in place failed—we can all agree that it was less than perfect—we are going to go back to the days when no process existed at all, putting an end to any further democratic debate on the matter, which affects vital institutions? That would be quite disappointing, indeed. In a nutshell, I would just like the government to explain one thing. If it does not want to undertake this study, what message does that send to Canadians? Does the government not want to establish a process because it wasn't successful? Is it better to go back to how things were?
When I go back to my riding and my constituents ask me what we are going to do about the nomination of judges, am I going to have to tell them that, unfortunately, the government no longer cares to fix that problem?
That is frustrating for a young person like me, who studied law and sees the benefit of reviewing how judges are appointed and how our democratic institutions operate. It's frustrating for young people of my generation to see that the government tried to establish a process, which, by its own admission, did not work. We are in a black hole right now.
Thank you.