Justice  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question and certainly am very mindful of the realities across this country with respect to judicial vacancies. Our government is committed to a fair, relevant, and accessible justice system. I am further committed to working with the provinces and the territories in a collaborative way to ensure that the many factors that lead to judicial delays are addressed, including the appointment of judges.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, again I am pleased to stand up to speak about the new process that the Prime Minister has introduced for appointing the next Supreme Court justice. We are committed to respecting the custom of regional representation, functional bilingualism, diversity, and ensuring that we have the highest calibre of jurist to be the next Supreme Court of Canada justice.

Indigenous Affairs  Again, Mr. Speaker, our government has committed and endorsed, without qualification, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We are committed to moving forward with a nation-to-nation relationship that is based on recognition and how to operationalize the declaration in Canada.

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which we have endorsed without qualification. We are committed to moving forward to operationalize the United Nations declaration within a section 35 context, our unique constitutional context, and we are committed to doing that with indigenous peoples.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand up to speak to the process that we have introduced in terms of Supreme Court of Canada appointments, an open and transparent process that respects the custom of regional representation, that speaks to functional bilingualism, that speaks to appointing and identifying high-quality jurists who will fill the next seat.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would first like to highlight that, as long as this fundamental institution of our government has existed, it has exemplified excellence, and I do not want to take away from that excellence. I applaud it and recognize that, for this fundamental institution, we have sought to open up the process for the appointment of new judges to that court and to ensure that people can participate in that process.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for acknowledging the role of the advisory committee. I was very honoured to present to the House of Commons committee earlier in August to speak about the process for the appointment of the next justice and to seek their feedback. That desire remains.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to talk about the process. The short answer to the question is that there was no process before. What we have sought to do, comparing an actual process to no process, is institute a transparent, open, and accountable process. It ensures we engage with parliamentarians, attorneys general across the country, and the chief justice; ensures we have an open process that invites qualified jurists from right across the country to ensure we are reflective of diversity, which is hugely important; ensures there are functionally bilingual candidates; recognizes that there are extremely qualified jurists from every jurisdiction; and ensures we have the ability to make substantive decisions about this really important appointment and make recommendations to the Prime Minister.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague across the way for his participation on the justice committee. I look forward to presenting with the Hon. Kim Campbell at the committee, to speak about the Supreme Court process and to speak about the potential or the future nominee. As I have indicated in this House many times, I am pleased that we introduced a new process for Supreme Court of Canada appointments.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question and for his desire to be involved in the process, which I think is something that all members of this House should be involved in, in terms of having conversations about this fundamental institution and the gravity of appointing the next Supreme Court of Canada justice.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is indeed my great pleasure to rise to speak to the motion regarding the process for selecting the next justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. The motion rightly highlights the importance of the custom of regional representation. It is a custom that has served the court and our country well, and one that I wish to address with care.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for the question and I certainly recognize the importance that appointing the next Supreme Court justice places upon the Prime Minister. That is why I was very proud when the Prime Minister introduced a new process to make it more open, more accountable, to ensure that we recognize and uphold the highest-quality jurists, recognize the importance of regional representation and functional bilingualism, and look to ensure that we do as much as we can to improve the diversity on the highest court.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that our government introduced a process for the appointment of Supreme Court of Canada judges, to make it open and transparent. I look forward to the independent expert panel bringing back very qualified candidates, respecting regional representation, who are functionally bilingual, and represent the highest standards of jurists in this country.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the member's question allows me to highlight the new process that the Prime Minister put in place for Supreme Court of Canada appointments. We respect the idea of having an open and transparent process to gain access to applications from a diverse group of qualified jurists from across the country.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), 74 candidates were recommended by the independent advisory committees between November 4, 2015, and June 15, 2016. Regarding part (b), the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs, which administers the federal judicial appointments process, has received no direction from the Minister of Justice to pause the process of considering potential candidates by advisory committees.