Irwin Cotler on Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

With respect to judicial appointments made by the Minister of Justice: (a) by what process is each applicant reviewed; (b) which criteria are applied; (c) who is responsible for the review of each application; (d) who is responsible for the selection of individuals to conduct reviews of each application; (e) at what stages of the process and in what ways are the following factors considered: (i) gender, (ii) visible minority status, (iii) national or ethnic origin, (iv) race, (v) religion, (vi) sexual orientation, (vii) disability, (viii) parental status, (ix) marital status, (x) First Nations status, (xi) aboriginal status; (f) broken down by court and year from 2000-present, how many juridical appointments were made; (g) of appointments in (f), what is the breakdown by factor listed in (e); (h) for judicial appointments in (f), how many applicants were (i) considered for each position, (ii) recommended, (iii) considered “highly qualified”, (iv) considered “qualified”, (v) considered “not qualified”; (i) for (h)(i), (h)(ii), (h)(iii), (h)(iv) and (h)(v), what is the breakdown by factors in (e); (j) in what ways, when, and by whom is information relative to the factors in (e), (i) obtained or evaluated during the application process, (ii) reviewed and assessed during the consideration of appointments; (k) in what ways are the factors in (e) tracked and reported upon and to whom; (l) in what ways, by what metrics, and by whom, is judicial diversity measured on the bench and how often, to whom and by whom is the information reported; (m) what measures is the (i) Department of Justice, (ii) Minister of Justice taking to ensure the diversity of judicial appointments and a diverse applicant pool for each judicial vacancy; (n) what reviews of diversity among judicial appointments are currently underway; (o) what steps is the Department taking to ensure that diversity is considered throughout the appointments process; (p) by what metrics does the Department measure the diversity of applicants and appointments for judicial vacancies; (q) who is responsible for ensuring diversity of judicial appointments; (r) what measures are being undertaken by the individuals or agencies in (q); (s) in what ways, how often, and to whom do the individuals in (r) report on the issue of judicial diversity; (t) in what types of consultations and with which groups has the Minister of Justice engaged, with respect to diversity of judicial appointments; (u) by what protocol are applicants for judicial vacancies evaluated for each court within the Federal appointment power; (v) when were the protocols in (u) established and by whom; (w) in what ways is diversity a consideration in the protocols in (u); (x) are statistics kept with respect to diversity of appointments already made; (y) with respect to applicants for judicial appointments, how is diversity information collected, by whom, and at what stages of the process; (z) what is the role of the Canadian Judicial Council with respect to ensuring diversity of Canadian courts; (aa) what is the role of the Federal Commissioner for Judicial Affairs with respect to ensuring diversity of judicial appointments; (bb) what statistics are kept by the Canadian Judicial Council and the Federal Commissioner for Judicial Affairs with respect to diversity on the judiciary; and (cc) does the government have any goals with respect to (i) diversity of applicants, (ii) diversity of appointments and, if so, what are they, by whom were they established, and by what mechanisms are they ensured?