Madam Speaker, I must admit that this was a very difficult delivery. I do not know whether it will be a breech birth and whether forceps will be needed to finish my speech.
Maybe I am too good and the hon. member for Fraser Valley-West is trying to distract me. This is the second time I have been interrupted. I wish the Liberals would not go. Continue listening to me, even though I am not as interesting as you would like, but at least try to see to it that we have a quorum. It is your responsibility to see to it that we have a quorum, since there are 177 of you to do it anyway.
So, the bill will standardize the appointment of the administrative tribunal chairpersons; this is the second point on which our party wants to focus. This is the core of the issue, what I would call the heart of it. From now on, chairpersons will be designated instead of being appointed for a determinate and renewable mandate. That is a subtle nuance. I am sure that everybody here understands the difference between "designation" and "appointment". Someone who is designated can be removed at pleasure, for whatever reason, while someone who is appointed is there for three, five or seven years, according to the duration of his or her mandate, which ensures some degree of stability in the position. And I have not even mentioned the appointment process, which is defective from the start.
When partisan appointments continue to be made according to political stripes or favours obtained, we must conclude that the process is biased. The fact that the chairpersons will be designated instead of being appointed is cause for concern. Things are a lot easier when people are designated, because they can be removed at the first opportunity. This situation makes chairpersons extremely vulnerable to political pressures from the government since they can be replaced at will by that government.
The new measures could very well further undermine the already shaken credibility of administrative tribunals and make them even more submissive to political power. Without a complete overhaul-this is what we were expecting from the President of the Treasury Board-of appointments to administrative tribunals, it is unacceptable to introduce measures that seriously undermine the independence and impartiality of administrative tribunals. It becomes a vicious cycle of perpetual patronage.
We all know that the President of the Treasury Board, by his attitude in this matter, is refusing to tackle these important issues, because he does not want to give up the sacrosanct power of ministers to make appointments to administrative tribunals.
Any change or amendment to administrative tribunals must focus on the arbitrary nature of the process to appoint and re-appoint administrative judges. Political favouritism in the quasi-judicial process should no longer have a place in a modern democracy such as ours.
Obviously, the Liberal government does not hesitate to flout the principles underlying the existence of administrative tribunals. The sword of Damocles that the President of the Treasury Board wants to dangle over the heads of members of administrative tribunals may well taint the whole administrative tribunal process.
Let us now take a look at what certain well known legal figures in Quebec have said on this topic. Jocelyne Olivier, president of the bar of the province of Quebec last year, was very clear when she said, in the Quebec City daily Le Soleil on July 8, 1995, while still holding that position: ``The absence of job security might have unsuspected psychological effects on decisions made by a person
who might be more preoccupied with toeing the line than seeing that justice was done". This is worrisome.
Members of administrative tribunals might even hesitate to adopt a direction favourable to citizens for fear of penalizing the government.
In conclusion, the government's bill is unacceptable because it is an outright attack on two fundamental principles of justice that cannot be ignored. These two principles are the impartiality and independence of members of administrative tribunals.
In the case of superior courts, whether the Superior Court, the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court is involved, even if the appointment is by the Minister of Justice of Canada, there is no doubt about the independence and impartiality of judges.
I think that citizens and clients of our courts have confidence in our justice system. However, as far as administrative tribunals are concerned, if the government keeps up the same patronage system that has existed since Confederation in 1867, there is something wrong.
There are two principles that are fundamental to a modern democracy, two principles that the government seems to ignore without any compunction, just so it can keep the power to make partisan appointments to administrative tribunals. These appointments are often a way to reward friends of the government who may not necessarily have the qualifications to exercise these important duties. The Liberals are merely perpetuating a tradition of patronage that has become their trademark as a government.
In concluding, I would ask the unanimous consent of the House so that, when Bill C-49, an act to authorize remedial and disciplinary measures in relation to members of certain administrative tribunals, to reorganize and dissolve certain federal agencies and to make consequential amendments to other acts, is adopted on second reading by the Liberal majority of this House, it shall be referred to all standing committees of the House that are responsible for the administrative tribunals affected by this bill.