I want to thank my colleague for his question.
Back in the days when I was a youngster we looked with awe and respect to our judges. They were bestowed with a wisdom we thought few people had. As a result of that wisdom and their common sense, knowledge and skills, we relied upon them. We placed our trust in them to not only understand the law but to understand procedure so that when an accused appeared before them, a fair trial for that individual was assured. We looked upon judges for that.
It is a special quality of leadership which we have in this country. We have had it in the past. That kind of leadership has helped build this great nation. When we find that more than 50% of Canadians are beginning to lose faith in that kind of leadership, then we have to look at why.
I heard the debate earlier on and it was rankled and so on. It is unfortunate but we do have to maintain the right as elected representatives. Why do we have immunity in this place? Why? It is so that we can examine those sensitive issues without fear or apprehension. When something is going wrong in a former hallowed area of our system, we can examine it on behalf of the people. We can examine it openly, fairly and honestly in order to arrive at a balanced judgment as to what should be done.
I am hoping that we do arrive at a balanced judgment in terms of this bill and whether or not someone making $140,000 deserves a raise today when so many people are struggling to keep body and soul together on a salary that is a lot lower than $140,000. I hope we can strike that balance.