Justice  Mr. Speaker, the decisions taken by the Supreme Court affect us all. The process that was employed by the previous government was opaque, outdated, and in need of an overhaul. That is why our government has announced a new Supreme Court of Canada appointment process that is open and transparent.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the process used by the previous government to appoint Supreme Court justices was opaque, outdated, and in need of an overhaul. We have announced a new appointment process that is open, transparent, and will set a much higher standard for accountability. As mandated by our Prime Minister, the list of qualified and functionally bilingual candidates, developed by the advisory board, includes candidates from Atlantic Canada.

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, access to justice in both official languages is an issue that affects all Canadians. Canadians want to live in a law-abiding society that has a justice system that is fair and accessible for everyone. In criminal justice, these principles mean that the lower courts have to be able to operate in French or in English, according to the official language chosen by the accused for his or her trial.

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, access to justice in both official languages is an important issue for our country. Canadians want to live in a law-abiding society with a fair, accessible, and equitable justice system. On August 2, 2016, the Prime Minister announced a new process for appointing Supreme Court of Canada justices that is open and transparent and that sets a stricter standard for accountability.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the process employed by the previous government for Supreme Court of Canada appointees was opaque and badly in need of an overhaul. That is the reason why there was a new process that increased transparency, that increased accountability, and that is why the advisory committee has been asked to identify suitable candidates.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the process used to appoint Supreme Court justices by the previous government was opaque, outdated, and in need of an overhaul. In the mandate letter from the Prime Minister to the advisory board, they were asked that when making their selections they consider the custom of regional representation on the court as being one of the factors to be taken into consideration.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Drummond for his speech. I will be talking about the same thing. He spoke about bilingualism and the private member's bill that he introduced. However, he knows very well that the policy announced by the Prime Minister will ensure that bilingual judges will be appointed from now on.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, with the last comment from the member for Calgary Shepard, I am a little confused. I would have thought that the objective of his speech would be to solicit support for his motion. Now he is encouraging us to vote against it. However, we fully intend to support the motion.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on the very last couple of comments made by my colleague opposite, in which he accused the government of being disrespectful of Parliament and of the court. I would ask him to hark back maybe a year or two with respect to the public spat between his former boss, Stephen Harper, and the chief justice of the Supreme Court and ask whether we should take direction from his side of the aisle with regard to respect for the court.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Milton, originally from Cape Breton, for her contribution to the debate today. There were a couple of things she said in error, and if I may, I am going to point them out. She can feel free to respond. She suggested that a criterion for the next Supreme Court of Canada judge is that the person be fluently bilingual.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue this discussion on what seems to be the centrepiece of most of the Conservatives' speeches, which is the chest thumping around a 141-year-old constitutional convention. However, in the wording of their motion, the words “constitutional convention” do not appear.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Conservative Party for bringing forward this motion, which we support. It talks about the custom of regional representation. It is indeed one that is very important, one that we support, and one that we are upholding through the new process.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but chime in at the mention of Sir Louis Henry Davies, the judge of the Supreme Court of Canada for whom our courthouse is named. I would like to continue our conversation on the bilingualism of judges and the point the member for Victoria made in response to my last question.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the member for Victoria for that very thoughtful and well-researched contribution to this debate. It is certainly what we have come to expect from the member, but I have to say that this is one of his finer moments. There are a couple of points the member made in his speech that I would like to take up with him.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the minister for confirming the government's respect for the custom of regional representation and our party's support for this motion. I was a member of the justice committee at the time of the last appointment to the Supreme Court and there was no involvement by any parliamentarians, not before, not after, and not during.