Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question and the sentiment. On this point, I absolutely have a commitment to ensuring that we get to the right place on it.
I would say this with respect to the reason we brought the motion, and it is important. When Mr. Justice Cromwell left, he spoke about this in an interview. The importance of having this debate in the House now about how to go about ensuring that the jurist who will be appointed to the Supreme Court has all the attributes we want, including one from Atlantic Canada, is that the minute the government indicates who its preferred candidate is, the debate becomes about the candidate.
We wanted to make the point that this is not about an individual. It may be a great person who comes out of this process, but the process is flawed. It takes into consideration things that should not be taken into consideration. As Peter Hogg said, “For a single, occasional, high-profile appointment, I do not think the government should be restricted to a short list developed by an advisory committee”.
I think the full list should be available. I think it should be an Atlantic Canadian appointment, and I think we should have this discussion and a promise from the government before someone with a great name and a great background in this country is thrown into a complete mess.