Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments on making sure that we hold true to the point of discussion on the opposition motion today. However, I think this is relevant, because at the end of the day, what we are talking about is how we achieve good nominations and how we achieve great appointments in Canada. Whether it is a parliamentary appointment or a judicial appointment, how do we ensure that the processes get us to where we want to be in terms of good governance for all Canadians? I thank the Speaker for giving me leave to continue.
As we reflect critically and self-critically on Canada's 150th birthday, it is important to underscore the fact that Chief Justice McLachlin's voice epitomizes that of an engaged judicial leader whose views merit deep consideration by all Canadians. In recent years, the McLachlin court has ruled on the country's prostitution laws and the concept of physician assistance in dying.
Both within the four walls of the court and also outside, Chief Justice McLachlin has been a beacon on the issue of access to justice. Everyone in this House is well aware of the series of stinging rebukes the chief justice delivered to the government of former prime minister Stephen Harper in ruling that the Harper government could not use Parliament alone to impose Senate term limits, allow consultative elections for senatorial candidates, or abolish the upper chamber. Again, this theme goes right back to the issue of nominations. I hasten to point to that linkage.
The Supreme Court under Chief Justice McLachlin has also supported the safe injection facility in Vancouver and overturned a Conservative sentencing law that was part of the government's law and order regime. As someone who has pleaded before her, representing non-governmental interveners, and as it is now before the House of Commons, it is a privilege to point to her as a shining example of a good appointment, someone who was nominated and has served Canadians well.
As Sean Fine, the legal affairs columnist for The Globe and Mail stated so eloquently just yesterday:
She pushed boundaries and took risks, and her vision of Canada became predominant on the court she led, and in the country. On or off the court, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin was not afraid to take a stand—whether in accusing Canada of committing cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples in a speech (two years ago), or in defending herself publicly in an unprecedented dispute with a sitting prime minister (three years ago), or in declaring laws unconstitutional and striking them down (on a regular basis for 28 years). And whether those laws harmed the vulnerable or protected the vulnerable, she would take a constitutional hatchet to them if she felt they went beyond what the Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chief Justice McLachlin for her outstanding service to the people of Canada. She has been an incredible leader of the Supreme Court itself, of the Canadian judiciary, and of the legal system as a whole. She has guided the development of law in the Constitution but never lost sight of the need for the law to remain relevant to the average Canadian and to the people it is intended to serve.
It is with the deepest gratitude that I congratulate Chief Justice McLachlin on her well-deserved retirement. I think it is fair to say that Canadians can only hope that future nominations will be as strong as hers.
With that, I will conclude my remarks. I am looking forward to questions from my hon. colleagues.