Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has long called for a review process for potential candidates to the supreme court.
Today we see that the Premier of Ontario has joined Alberta in a call for provincial input into the appointments of supreme court judges. Academics and legal scholars as well as retired supreme court justice Gerald La Forest also agree.
Having the supreme court appointments made solely on the political preferences of the Prime Minister is a process that does not serve Canadians. The Institute for Research on Public Policy has revealed that 92% of Canadians do not support the Prime Minister having the sole authority to choose judges.
The charter of rights and freedoms requires Canadian judges to make rulings based on what is “reasonable”. The Reform Party, political leaders and Canadians know it is also reasonable to have greater public scrutiny and input into who occupies the seats in the supreme court. This change must happen.