Justice committee  Let me try to answer that for you, Mr. Jean. First of all, the fundamental principle that has to be protected as a cornerstone for democracy is judicial independence. Even setting that aside, I know of no parallel you could draw on that would link somebody who needs to be indepe

Justice committee  I don't think anybody in the judicial process, with respect, has their salary tied to somebody's concept of performance. You would know, again with respect, the process that has to be followed constitutionally, that is in the written Constitution, for removal of a judge. I have t

Justice committee  I think, with respect, the CBA would say that doing that would profoundly undermine judicial independence.

Justice committee  I can't help but begin by noting that fundamentally the Canadian Bar Association's position is that the first bill should have passed, which of course would render the matter moot. Beyond that, the Canadian Bar Association has not developed a position with respect to the constitu

Justice committee  It's impossible for me to take myself away from the first conclusion I expressed, because the spirit of the legislation would be a timely response and an implementation of the commission reports themselves. We find ourselves less than 12 months away from the implementation of the

Justice committee  Simply put, the test that's prescribed--the existence or non-existence of rational, evidence-based, legitimate reasons--doesn't exist, in the submission of the Canadian Bar Association. Again, we end up with the conclusion, the feeling, that a reasonable person, leaving aside the

Justice committee  There are two things. The Canadian Bar Association would hope that the government is persuaded by the strength of the reasons that the Canadian Bar Association brings forward. Failing that, and if the only option is to pass the bill in its present form, it's very important for th

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Moore. I'll do my best to try to answer the question. What I'd like to do is begin the answer by taking you back to one of the questions that you included in your comments, which was the hypothetical--and I emphasize that it was hypothetical--situation of if the

Justice committee  I want to resist the temptation to reiterate a couple of the things that were said in the written brief that was filed. In its decisions and opinions on this particular subject, the Supreme Court said the government must not simply reiterate the submission that it has given to

Justice committee  I think the best I could do to help you, Mr. Comartin, and the other members of the committee is to refer you to the commission report itself. This was something that became the subject of submissions before the commission. The commission, I think very correctly, indicated that i

Justice committee  The Canadian Bar Association is certainly concerned. And we would invite members of the committee to take into account the fact that the next commission is going to be meeting in 2007, so it's important to get this process right, and it's important to move on. Otherwise, we're si

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Cotler. You have summed up well two things. First of all, you have summed up the position the Canadian Bar Association has attempted to articulate in its reasons, and second, you've drawn out of the government response the conundrum the Canadian Bar Association ha

Justice committee  Thank you, Tamra. Let me begin by indicating that the CBA recognizes that the role of this committee puts politicians in the unfamiliar position of leaving political considerations at the door. You must, because public confidence in the justice system is at stake. Canadians shou

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. My apologies to member of the committee. It's a disability I suffer from, so I'll try to slow down. Again to quote the Supreme Court, “...a mere assertion that judges’ current salaries are 'adequate', would be insufficient.” Together, these directions requi