Mr. Speaker, first I would like to say to the hon. member that there are certainly differences between good tribunals and bad tribunals.
The concept of the tribunal is already laid out in Bill C-61. I personally do not have a major problem with the idea or the theory of a tribunal. The concern I have is that tribunals could be very susceptible to political patronage appointments.
We have seen that. Look at the current Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and some of the appointments which have taken place over the past six months to a year. Look through the records. There is clearly a trend to political appointments. That is my concern with an appointed tribunal.
All I have said is that any proposed tribunal should go to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food before its members are accepted. Obviously there would be a huge Liberal majority in the standing committee. That is a given, but let us have the opportunity to discuss it.