Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The Minister of Justice has a responsibility to fill judicial vacancies in a timely manner. Notwithstanding that responsibility, this is simply not happening. Today there are approximately 60 judicial vacancies across Canada, 12 of them in the province of Alberta, where the situation in terms of backlog and delay is particularly acute.
A year and a half ago, the Alberta government by way of order in council established 10 new judicial posts to deal with the backlog in Alberta's courts. A year and a half later, the Minister of Justice has managed to appoint one new judge from the province of Alberta.
This would be problematic in normal times, but it is much more serious in light of the Jordan decision. As a result of the failure of the minister to fill these vacancies in a timely manner, what we have is a crisis that has worsened. There are serious costs, including more than 400 criminal cases having been thrown out.
Just a week and a half ago, a case involving notorious gang leader Nick Chan was thrown out of court because of delay. This is an individual who was charged with first-degree murder, who was facing a charge of conspiracy to commit murder and directing a criminal organization. He is the head of the notorious so-called Fresh Off the Boat gang, which is linked to more than a dozen murders. He has been called one of the most dangerous men in Calgary, and today he is walking the streets, in part because the minister has simply not gotten judicial vacancies in the province of Alberta and across Canada filled.
The fact is that Canadians deserve answers. They deserve to know, as these cases are being thrown out, why the minister has not filled these judicial vacancies in a timely manner.
Pursuant to the motion that I have put forward, I have asked that the minister appear before the committee to explain the delay. What's the holdup? Why has it been that in a year and a half, for example, in the province of Alberta, out of 10 new judicial spots that were established, only one has been filled? Clearly that is not a record of action. It is a record of inaction; it is a record of neglect.
In addition to these cases being thrown out and dangerous criminals walking the streets, public confidence in the administration of justice is being affected.
Further to this, I would like this committee to undertake a study about the shortage of judges and the impact it is having on the administration of justice and on public confidence in the administration of justice.
I think it's a straightforward motion; I think it's a common-sense motion. This is a problem that has gone on for now almost two years, and I think the time has come, in light of all these cases that have been thrown out, for the minister—not in a 35-second answer in question period—to come to the committee for an hour or an hour and a half so that substantive questions about a very serious issue can be asked of the minister, we can get some clear answers, and some light can be shed.
I think it would be worthwhile to undertake this study because clearly, when dangerous criminals are walking the streets, when more than 400 criminal cases have been thrown out, and when thousands more are at risk, confidence in the administration of justice is being undermined.