Mr. Speaker, in August 2019, the Prime Minister accepted the report prepared by the hon. Anne McLellan on the dual role of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and committed to carefully reviewing her recommendations to determine how best to implement them. She made a total of eight recommendations in her report, all aimed at addressing concerns around the dual roles and, in particular, concerns around prosecutorial independence and public confidence in the criminal justice system.
The government has either addressed or is working to address all the recommendations in the report. For example, changes to the oath of office were completed in the fall of 2019, and the new oath was first used on November 20, 2019, for the swearing in of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. This new oath directly addresses concerns around the independence of the Attorney General of Canada by stating that the Attorney General will “uphold the Constitution, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary and of the prosecutorial function”.