Madam Speaker, I listened attentively to the member's remarks. While I do not necessarily share all her opinions, including those on the Young Offenders Act and the severity of sentences imposed by the courts, on the whole, as regards Bill C-37, we are not far apart in our understanding of it and on the government's obligations regarding decisions by the Supreme Court.
On September 18, 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down an important decision. It is the reason we have Bill C-37 before us now. I will quote a passage from the decision I consider very important, and then I will ask her a question.
The justices said the following “However, to avoid the possibility of, or the appearance of, political interference through economic manipulation, a body, such as a commission, must be interposed between the judiciary and the other branches of government. The constitutional function of this body would be to depoliticize the process of determining changes to or freezes in judicial remuneration”.
My question to the member is quite simple, and I am sure she shares my position on this. Could she tell us what she thinks, in the light of the statement by the Supreme Court justices, of the way judges are appointed to the Supreme Court, to federal courts and to superior courts? Does she not believe that, if we are to depoliticize the process and prevent all economic manipulation, there has to be a commission?
Would it not be more natural or better if the government opposite introduced a bill to set up a sort of committee, commission or whatever for the appointment of justices? Would this serve to prevent all political interference, all political manipulation, as it was put by a certain lawyer with a high international profile in the Supreme Court reference?
Would justice not be better served if the government listened to the arguments put forward by the opposition on a number of occasions? I think the Reform Party also has a platform or arguments on the appointment of judges to superior courts under federal jurisdiction.