Mr. Speaker, I am a bit surprised to hear Liberals try to laud their appointments process on federal judges, because they have actually maintained a historic number of vacancies on federal courts. There were 53 just a couple of weeks ago, which breaks all record.
For Canadians wondering why that matters so much, it is because we have new Supreme Court rulings that say, under Jordan's principle, that we must move victims and potential victims through the court system more expeditiously. One of the ways to do that is to have judges sitting on the bench, which the Liberals, after three-plus years in office, have been unable to do.
I will take this moment to agree with my friend about the bill from our former colleague, Rona Ambrose. I am stunned that the Canadian Senate has not gotten it together to spend a few moments to pass that bill through the Senate to allow for proper training for our judges. Although I hate to typify this, in case after case, particularly when it is older male judges sitting on the bench dealing with sexual assault cases, as Canadians have unfortunately seen in the news, federal judges have been unable to properly understand this. They have not had proper training through the simple passage of that bill.
However, my question is this. The Liberals have put forward better rape shield laws and the provision to have an attorney present at some of the pre-trial hearings, but without any further support to provide legal aid for those Canadians who do not have the resources to have a lawyer with them. In putting up the motion without the resources behind it, what does that mean to Canadians from low-income families? Will they have less representation at trial if facing the horrific scene of a sexual assault?