Mr. Speaker, it is really a pleasure to rise today in support of the motion proposed by the member for Niagara Falls. I had the pleasure of serving with that honourable gentleman on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, and I very much respect his long service in the House and also to Canada.
At the outset, I want to sincerely thank the Hon. Mr. Justice Thomas Cromwell for his service to Canada and also for being an excellent lawyer, law professor at Dalhousie law school, and judge of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal and finally the Supreme Court of Canada. He is an extraordinary jurist with common sense and the common touch. He certainly has done Nova Scotia very proud, and I wish him much health and happiness in his well-deserved retirement from the Supreme Court of Canada.
Of course, his retirement as of September 1 means that a new judge of the Supreme Court of Canada will be appointed. This impending retirement is what has prompted the new process as well as the debate in the House today, and I welcome that debate.
I would like to outline my connection and interest with regard to this matter in particular. I am a lawyer from Nova Scotia and I am on the justice committee as well. I was called to the Nova Scotia bar in 2008 and practised law in my hometown of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, until I was honoured with the confidence of the people of West Nova on October 19, 2015. In my practice, I worked both as a barrister and as a solicitor and had the opportunity to argue cases at all levels of courts in Nova Scotia. I also had the occasion while articling to assist on a case and actually attend at the Supreme Court of Canada. It was a matter involving a lobster-fishing licence and its nature as tangible property. Clearly that was a case that mattered very much to the region of Atlantic Canada, and it was important that there was knowledge on the Supreme Court of Canada with regard to the different regions that were implicated.
I also served as president of the Western Counties Barristers' Society, and had the opportunity in such capacity to represent members of the bar and also to get to know members of the bench and their impeccable qualities both as jurists and as people. I am incredibly impressed by the calibre, hard work, and dedication of the judges in Nova Scotia. I also know from my colleagues across Atlantic Canada that our judges and jurists are as good as any in Canada, and of course Canada has one of the most respected judiciaries in the entire world. By extension, I have no doubt that there will be excellent applicants from Atlantic Canada for consideration in the new process. Of course the new process requires that the independent committee have at least two jurists from Atlantic Canada be considered for the appointment.
I certainly support that an Atlantic Canadian be selected as the next member of the Supreme Court of Canada. However, why did we need a new process? It is an excellent process that we have instituted, that this government has brought forward. It is independent. There is an advisory board, which is led by a former Progressive Conservative prime minister, Kim Campbell. She has the respect of this side of the House in doing a good job. I believe it shows some question on the current Conservative Party's judgment to not have confidence in the independent advisory board that is led by a former prime minister who was a Progressive Conservative.
The reason that we need a new process, though, is pretty clear. The former government had a process that lacked transparency and lacked the confidence of Canadians. The appointment and the mess they made of the appointment of the Supreme Court justice, when they advanced Marc Nadon, became an absolute distraction from the work of Parliament and an absolute distraction from the good work of the Supreme Court of Canada.
In fact, former prime minister Harper and his government called into question the integrity of the Hon. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. This was uncalled for. This was dangerous to the independence of the judiciary, and in doing so, tried to undermine one of Canada's fundamentally most important institutions to our democracy and the reputation of a person whose integrity, professionalism, and honour are beyond reproach.
Further, the Conservatives undermined confidence in the court itself by introducing private member's bills that sought to get around the charter certification here in Parliament as well as introducing pieces of legislation and passing them with their majority, knowing that they did not meet the constitutional provisions of the charter. The level of hypocrisy that we are hearing today from the other side of the House, in saying that the Liberal Party does not respect the integrity of the court, is quite simply laughable.
Why will the new process carry the confidence of Canadians? Here is why. It is because it is inclusive and requires functional bilingualism to be considered. We know that 13 of the last 15 appointments to the Supreme Court of Canada have been bilingual jurists and that is now considered the norm in appointing judges to the Supreme Court of Canada. This would ensure that the process chooses someone who is functionally bilingual, which is important because there are nuances in the law. Canada has two official languages, English and French. It is important for people who appear before the Supreme Court of Canada to have confidence that they can speak either official language of this country and the nuances of the law will be understood.
The process also seeks diversity, lends itself to confidence through its independence, and also ensures that judges of the highest calibre in this country are appointed. Almost all of the recent appointments, as I mentioned, have been bilingual, and it reflects the functional bilingualism that is important to Canada being officially bilingual.
Over the past number of years, we have seen growing diversity on the bench and bar across Canada. We need to continue to appoint excellent jurists at all levels, including superior courts in the provinces, which will develop a broader, more diverse pool of judges to select for the Supreme Court of Canada. This process is a starting point to ensure not only that judges will have the requisite level of experience and knowledge on the lower courts but that they will be well positioned to merit the seat on the Supreme Court of Canada.
We have seen and must continue to strive for diversity in our law schools, but ultimately, diversity among those on the bench will not only properly reflect Canadian society, but most importantly, encourage more people who have not traditionally been represented as jurists to get into the profession of law, which is so fundamental to our democracy and systems here in Canada.
On the custom of regional representation, I have heard, time and again, the argument made today that Atlantic Canadian MPs are not standing up, that we have been silent on the issue with respect to this new process. I am a member of the justice committee, as I mentioned, and on August 11 I had the pleasure of the justice minister appearing at committee. This was brand new. It was the first time that a minister had done so in contemplation of answering the questions of parliamentarians about the new process.
I had the pleasure of welcoming the minister, along with my committee colleagues, that day, but I also clearly stated that the custom of regional representation has served Canada well as a country. I was not silent that day. I said that this is an important custom that must be respected. The motion today asks for that support and that is why I am proudly supporting the motion. However, it is also important to reflect Canada's regional diversity, which is what the new process is all about, respecting and reflecting the diversity not only of regional representation but of bilingualism, of diversity, and of indigenous peoples being appointed to the court.
The Conservatives attempted the narrative recently that standing up for Atlantic Canada is something they are doing and that the 32 Atlantic MPs are not doing. Stephen Harper infamously said that Atlantic Canada had a culture of defeat. We saw a culture of defeat. It was the 32 seats in Atlantic Canada that defeated the Conservatives in the last election.
That was because the Conservatives had disrespected Atlantic Canada during the 10 years they were in government, reneging on the Atlantic accord, making EI changes that were unfair, slashing funding for cultural heritage such as the Acadians and our official languages, disrespecting veterans, not considering Atlantic Canada when the health transfers were changed, and a lack of respect for the environment. The Conservatives will have to excuse Atlantic Canadians for finding their newfound interest in Atlantic Canada a little insincere.
On the other hand , Atlantic Canadian MPs have been hard at work representing their constituents, working together to advance an Atlantic growth strategy, which includes innovation, immigration, tourism, and supporting small business.
I will stand up for Atlantic Canada, and most particularly for West Nova, every single day of the week, not just on this issue but on all issues. I have done so at committee and will do so again, along with all of my colleagues.