Thank you, Madam Chair.
There was just recently an article in the Toronto Star newspaper about a human trafficking case that has collapsed as the latest casualty of a failure to appoint enough judges.
While it is important that we deal with today's topic, it's also important that we be attuned to what Canadians are concerned about.
Last year Richard Wagner, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, spoke about judicial vacancies and the challenges that were being caused by not having enough vacancies filled. We know that a few weeks ago, former minister of justice David Lametti blamed the slowdown in judicial appointments directly on the Prime Minister's Office, so I introduced a motion that we call on justice minister Arif Virani to appear at committee to discuss the issue of judicial vacancies in light of the concerns Canadians have with the justice system.
Because of the constraints we're under due to Supreme Court decisions, justice delayed can absolutely mean justice denied. In this case, it was a human trafficking case that collapsed because of an insufficient number of judges.
This is important. Canadians are concerned about the justice system. I think it's the responsibility of this committee to take a look at the issue of these vacancies, so I would like to move my motion at this time.