Madam Speaker, I am certainly glad to respond to that intervention by the member for Prince Albert-Churchill River.
Let me be perfectly clear. In my speech I said that I would never think of challenging the integrity of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. I have no intention whatsoever of challenging the integrity of Madam Justice Louise Arbour. I am quite sure that her integrity and the respect which she enjoys is well deserved.
What is not well deserved is the way in which the government has gone about amending the rules. It has put these two eminent jurists in a very difficult, awkward and compromising position. They are not there of their own choosing, they are there because of the government.
If the member for Prince Albert-Churchill River cannot understand that point, perhaps that is why this bill and this government is in the mess it is in today regarding these two situations. The government has created the problem. It is not the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. His integrity is impeccable. He has been put in a compromising position by the Minister of Justice.
I do not know too much about Madam Justice Louise Arbour but I presume her integrity is also impeccable. She had been put in a very difficult position by the Minister of Justice who has allowed her to leave her duties on the bench against section 55 of the Judges Act and assume a position prior to legislation being passed by this House and the other place. That is the crux of the matter. Reform members feel that Madam Justice Louise Arbour is now compromised in her ability to prosecute and be a shining light for Canada. We think it is great and fully endorse the fact that a Canadian has been chosen to that high and prestigious position.
As I said earlier, these were horrific crimes and people have to be held accountable according to the rule of law. Surely those who are sitting in judgment, those who are prosecuting and those who are speaking on behalf of the world community that has been shocked by these crimes would want the confidence of knowing that the people who are performing these arduous duties are there without the slightest blemish or hint of problem from the country from which they come.
The point is that the government has put these two people in a most awkward and compromising position.