Jody Wilson-Raybould

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, here is the civil litigation relating to the sponsorship program that is ongoing and in which the government is involved.

With regard to Attorney General of Canada v. Pluridesign Inc. et al., the plaintiff is the Attorney General of Canada; the defendants are Luc Lemay, Jacques Corriveau, Joseph Charles Guité, Malcolm Media Inc., and Pluridesign Inc.; the Quebec superior court case number is 500-17-024768-056; and the case is subject to case management.

With regard to Malcolm Media Inc. v. Attorney General of Canada, the plaintiff is Malcolm Media Inc.; the defendant is the Attorney General of Canada; the Quebec superior court case number is 00-17-025654-057; and the judge overseeing case management of this case ordered that this case be joined to case number 500-17-024768-056.

No court cases or other legal proceedings relating to the sponsorship program that were ongoing and in which the government was involved on November 4, 2015, have ceased.

[Justice, November 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly would reiterate that we are taking a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system, including sentencing reforms that occurred across the last 10 years. As I stated, we are not against mandatory minimum penalties for the most serious of crimes. However, what we are seeking to do is comprehensively review all of the mandatory minimums in the Criminal Code with an eye to ensuring that the necessary discretion is provided to judges in terms of the individuals who are presented to them, to ensure that we are in compliance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that we have a fair, efficient, and responsive justice system.

[Justice, November 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the comprehensive criminal justice system review that we are undertaking.

Our government supports mandatory minimum penalties for the most serious of offences. However, we are going to conduct a comprehensive review of mandatory minimums, with an eye to ensuring that we inject the necessary discretion, where appropriate, to judges. This is the reason for Bill C-28: to ensure that judges have the ability, with respect to the victims' fine surcharge, to take into account the financial hardships of the individuals who appear before them.

[Justice, November 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be conducting a broad review of the criminal justice system, including sentencing reforms. This broad review will include a comprehensive review of the mandatory minimum penalties in the Criminal Code, with an eye to reform. The purpose of this review is to ensure that all our laws, including mandatory minimums, are effective in meeting their objectives, promoting public security and providing value to Canadians, and to ensure that the laws that we have are in compliance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[Justice, October 24th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate being able to speak to the new appointments process for superior court justices across the country. We certainly recognize and respect law enforcement officers for the work they do.

The purpose of the new judicial advisory committee is to open up the process to be more public and more transparent and to ensure that we are making a concerted effort to ensure that there is diversity on the bench so Canadians can see themselves in terms of the judges they see.

[Justice, October 21st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, certainly, there is no disrespect being shown to law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to protect our safety. What we have done is institute an open and transparent process for judicial appointments and, unprecedentedly, have put online application forms wherein anyone can apply to be on the Judicial Advisory Committee.

As the Minister of Justice, I look forward to being able to nominate three members of that committee as we seek to ensure that we have broad-based diversity on the committee, as well as future appointments of superior court judges.

[Justice, October 21st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question, as it gives me an opportunity to highlight the 24 judicial appointments that we made across the country yesterday, and to highlight the renewed process to ensure openness and transparency with respect to the new appointments process.

We have reconstituted the Judicial Advisory Committee with the intent of ensuring that there is diversity among the members of the committee, and ultimately to ensure that we achieve diversity on the benches across this country to reflect Canadians.

[Justice, October 20th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, today I was pleased to announce that we have moved forward to fill urgent vacancies, and I am confident in the outstanding quality of these appointments and their dedication to ensuring that we have just outcomes for Canadians. Further, I am very pleased to announce that we have instituted a new appointments process, which will identify and work toward having a bench across this country that reflects the diversity of Canada, to ensure that we continue to be a leader in the world with respect to our independence and with respect to the quality of our justice system.

[Justice, October 20th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the Prime Minister instituting a new process for the appointment of a Supreme Court of Canada justice, where no process existed before.

We have an eminently qualified jurist who is the nominee for the Supreme Court of Canada.

This is an open and transparent process, where there are multiple opportunities for members in this House to engage not only with me, but to engage and ask questions of the next Supreme Court justice. This is a fundamental institution of our system, and the respect conveyed to Justice Rowe is provided on Tuesday, and I look—

[Justice, October 20th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to stand to speak about Justice Rowe, who is the Prime Minister's nominee, and the historic appointment of the first Newfoundland and Labrador justice to the Supreme Court of Canada.

We are following through with our commitment to ensure an open and transparent process, engaging with parliamentarians. That is why former prime minister Kim Campbell and I are appearing before the justice committee on Monday; that is why, on Tuesday, we are having an open forum wherein the public and members of this House and the other House can engage and get to know the next Supreme Court justice.