Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague and fellow graduate of Neil McNeil high school in Scarborough for his question.
All things being equal, we do not equate salaries within a country based on what the exchange rate du jour happens to be. That is irrelevant. All salaries are based within the confines of our own country. The salaries of judges in the United States are one third less than the salaries of Canadian judges.
It would be nice if our salaries were taken into consideration according to the exchange rate. That is not the reality we live in. I will put this in his lap. He has been very constructive throughout many of the debates he has entered in this House. I hope the hon. member works with the Minister of Justice to deal with the issue of civil courts and what is happening with the civil court situation.
We unfortunately are moving toward the situation in the United States where civil courts and cases they are hearing are becoming spurious. I bring up the situation involving McDonald's. A woman had a cup of McDonald's coffee sitting on her lap. She spilled the coffee and received burns. She also received an extraordinarily high million plus dollar judgement in her favour.
We as a Parliament have to seriously look at the civil court situation to ensure we do not get tied up in spurious civil litigation that has a very onerous effect and very restrictive effect on society. It makes for a very fearful society. I hope the government and my hon. colleague will address the situation and use his expertise in the area.