Mr. Speaker, we have been woefully deprived of initiative from the Minister of Justice.
As the country's chief attorney general and legal counsel, it is her duty to ensure that the government's actions are above board and compliant with laws and policies. She was noticeably quiet on the Shawinigan affair.
She has failed to bring forth effective youth criminal justice legislation. She has merely off-loaded the problem on to the provinces. It is complicated and riddled with loopholes.
The minister will be responsible for at least doubling law faculties with the increased demand for lawyers to handle all the legal arguments she will cause in our courts. All Canadians will get is new legislation together with a whole host of new problems and difficulties.
The minister was virtually invisible when we discussed the need for a national sex offender registry. It is her department that would devise the scheme, but she has hidden behind the solicitor general, who continues to stick his head in the sand and maintain that CPIC will do the job. How ridiculous.
Then there is the child custody issue. In spite of an extensive subcommittee review and report, she seems afraid to do anything. She wants to study it more.
Perhaps it is time for the minister to move on.