House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
Justice May 27th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, once again, the NDP critic spoke very highly of Justice Nadon, who was a well-respected jurist.
We decided to proceed with an appointment to the Supreme Court according to long-standing criteria. Our independent experts also recommended those criteria. That is why we proceeded in that way.
Justice May 27th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the only changed story is from the NDP and the opposition, which had no objection to the appointment of Federal Court justices, and in fact no objection to Justice Nadon. This issue was drawn to my attention. I referred it to a range of legal experts, all of whom agreed that as had been long-standing practice, Federal Court judges were eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has now subsequently ruled, to our great surprise, that such is not the case in the case of Quebec. It is still the case elsewhere, and obviously we will follow that ruling.
Employment May 26th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the reality is of course that Canada has the best job creation record among all of the G8 member economies. Nearly 1.1 million net new jobs have been created since the recession.
Is the member right to observe that there are still challenges in the workforce? Of course there are, but the kinds of policies advocated by the Liberal Party and the other opposition parties, to raise taxes and to raise debt, would kill jobs not create them.
Employment May 26th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the contradictions of the Liberal Party on this are really too numerous for me to document in 35 seconds. What I will say is the following. Employers are, under changes we have put in, required to pay a prevailing wage. I think it has also been observed that if there are genuine labour shortages that should indicate upward pressure on wages, and of course that would be a good thing for Canadian workers as well.
Employment May 26th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, once again, it is difficult to understand the Liberals' position. One day they are calling for an end to the moratorium and an expansion of the temporary foreign worker program. The next day, they change their position.
Under the rules we put in, employers are required to pay temporary foreign workers the prevailing wage.
Justice May 26th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I have said multiple times that the government must respect that ruling. I have also noted that the reality is that doing so will limit the opportunities of Quebec judges on the Federal Court and weaken an important federal institution. However, since that is the ruling, the government will take the necessary steps.
Justice May 26th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, the reason Federal Court judges were considered in this appointment was that Federal Court judges had always been considered eligible for these appointments up to and including the process that chose Justice Wagner.
Obviously the Supreme Court has now ruled otherwise and, as I said before, the government will respect that ruling and act accordingly.
Justice May 26th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, as I have said multiple times, we consulted inside and outside legal experts as to whether Federal Court judges were eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court. Traditionally, these judges, including those sitting in Quebec, were considered. Our experts confirmed that such was the case, and I acted in accordance with the opinions we received from constitutional experts.
Justice May 26th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, once again, I do not know what the change of version is. What I know is that the government consulted outside legal experts as well as inside legal experts. All opinions we received indicated that Federal Court judges were eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court, as had always been considered the case in the past, including when vacancies were being filled from Quebec.
Justice May 26th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I have no idea of what that question was about. What I can say, simply, as I have said all along, is my position was that there was an issue I was aware of that I thought it likely to come before the court. Therefore, I did not consult a sitting judge; I consulted legal experts outside the court.