Mr. Speaker, we have just been hearing comments about the need for Parliament to protect itself against certain court decisions. I must say that, having heard my hon. colleague's speech, it is my impression that we should instead be having a motion to protect society against speeches such as the one we have just heard.
Some members of the House have suggested that the courts are assuming a role that is not contemplated in the Constitution. That is close to ridiculous. Such comments may cause people to question the legitimacy of the courts. In a society where we value the law, comments like this coming from parliamentarians run totally contrary to the principles we are called upon to defend in this Chamber, collectively and individually.
Of course criticism and debate are necessary elements in a healthy democracy. That is what gives members the right to make statements, but is certainly not an excuse to make statements that are neither informed nor responsible.
The impression created by the speech we have just heard is misleading and could risk damaging the credibility of the institution of the Canadian courts and the public's confidence in our system of justice as a whole.
It is clear that the power of judicial review has always existed under the Constitution. It is not as if the Prime Minister three weeks ago kicked out the former Supreme Court justices and appointed a fresh batch of them with a new mandate under a new Constitution. That power of judicial review has existed since 1867.
In first year university we were taught issues such as Russell v. Regina. It had to do with who had the authority to dispense liquor licences. I studied that a long time ago. I even had a different haircut then. This is to say how long that right of judicial review has existed. The boundary between Ontario and Manitoba was decided that way several years later under Premier Mowat.
The hon. member across the way refers to the right to vote of women and I am glad he made that point. Maybe he could talk about the right of women to sit in Parliament, namely in the Senate. In fact it was part of our judicial system that eventually gave them that right. The judicial committee of the Privy Council made that decision.
I wonder at that time, had it been left to people who think the same way as we just heard in the speech a moment ago, whether that right would have been achieved then. To ask the question is almost the same as answering it. It probably would not have existed today.
As I have said, the courts have always played a significant role in reviewing government legislation. This is a longstanding principle of the common law. There is no question that the role of the courts in interpreting the Charter has given them a higher profile and a more direct effect on the daily lives of Canadians.
However, even though the courts exercise considerable influence on the shape or the interpretation of Canadian law, they do so in accordance with well-established rules of constitutional and statutory interpretation, and not in a vacuum. Decisions are not reached on the basis of any personal bias on the part of judges, be they in the Supreme Court or in the other courts of Canada.
Where the courts signal to a legislature that the Charter of Rights is not being protected, as is the case with some of the things that were raised today, and that does not cover everything that was raised this morning, elected legislatures are free to choose how to respond within the framework of the Constitution. Case in point is the issue of child pornography. It is not as if Parliament did not respond to that issue. We passed Bill C-20 over the objections of some people in the House who claim today to be defending our children in the case of Bill C-20.