Mr. Speaker, there are actually three questions. I will attempt to answer each one of them in the time allotted to me.
The hon. member for Wild Rose asked is it not the job of the judge to make decisions in the best interests of the country. In essence, as I see it, it is the job of the judge to weigh very carefully the competing arguments and the evidence in front of him of her and to try and best find a just result.
The judge or the justice has to be free from political considerations. In the case of an appeal it would be a panel. Sometimes it may appear that he or she is making a decision that goes against what the population at large might want. The distinction between the judiciary and legislature is well known. It is not the job of the judiciary to make popular decisions. That is very dangerous. That is what happens south of the border in some states where the judiciary is elected. What we have then is a judge perhaps not making a just decision but playing to what the public opinion polls indicate he should do. A just decision, well written, well reasoned and explained to the public would avoid the concern the hon. member raises.
On his second point on the comments of Justice Iacobucci, it was mentioned earlier that one of the reasons salaries for judges are so high is they want to make sure they can draw good people from the law benches. They look at the salaries of private lawyers. There is a fault in that reasoning.
Many of the best legal minds in this country and many of the best lawyers in this country are in the public service. They do not make nearly the salaries those in the private sector make. The average public defender in this country, the average employee of the justice department does not get paid the same as those in private practice. I concur with some of the comments of the justice in that many young members of the bar are finding it incredibly difficult to meet the billing hours as we race toward profit margins.
That being said, many members of the bar I know in private practice have served their communities well, have served their bar societies well, have taken time from their practice to be involved in public and volunteer organizations. Many do work on a pro bono basis.
Unfortunately in this race to profit, for those who might be served on a pro bono basis where the private lawyer does the work for free, their file falls to the bottom which underscores the need for a public legal aid system across this country that is properly funded and can meet the needs of all individuals.
The third question is one that I have not heard all the facts on. I am not suggesting the hon. member would mislead me. I do not know the facts of the case. I do not understand why an individual who plead guilty in 1996 would be before the courts 18 times. It sounds incredible to me and I do not know all the facts and so I do not think it would be appropriate for me to make a decision in that regard.