Mr. Speaker, today Canadians learned that a lawyer who contributed thousands of dollars to the justice minister's political campaigns was appointed to be a judge by the Liberals.
People need to have trust in the justice system, which must be free from even the slightest perception of partisan considerations in the appointments process. Last month, the Liberals said that accessing their party database containing donor information when vetting judges had nothing to do with partisanship.
In light of today's news, how can the Liberals possibly defend those claims about merit-based judicial appointments?