Justice committee  Exactly. That is what I said before the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights.

Justice committee  That is what was done. I have not changed my opinion since I appeared before the Senate committee.

Justice committee  Yes.

Justice committee  Yes, okay. I do not consider it abnormal for there to be overlaps in jurisdiction in a federation. Consider health. Consider criminal law. I will refer to the decision in Canada Western Bank v. Alberta. Since banks sell insurance, there is an overlap when they promote insurance.

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for inviting me to appear before the committee today with regard to Bill S-201, which seeks to prohibit and prevent genetic discrimination. The objective of the bill is in my opinion commendable and warrants consideration. As my colleagues have pointed out, however, we have to consider the legislative impact of this bill as regards the Constitution of Canada.

Justice committee  Hello and thank you, Mr. Chair.

Justice committee  I think we should not exclude judges from the Federal Court of Appeal, nor those of the Federal Court, from potential appointments to the Supreme Court of Canada. I also hope you will remember section 5.4 of the Federal Courts Act during your deliberations. It says the following: At least five of the judges of the Federal Court of Appeal and at least ten of the judges of the Federal Court must be persons who have been judges of the Court of Appeal or of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec, or have been members of the Bar of that province.

Justice committee  Allow me, if you will, to go a little further. I would like to get back to the Meech Lake Accord, which provided that the Quebec government could submit three names when a position became vacant. The Prime Minister of Canada and the federal government would then have been required to choose from those three names.

Justice committee  I think that the government should perhaps undertake somewhat more consultation in future. This appointment to the Supreme Court was made, and is now being challenged. To my knowledge, this is the first time such an appointment is challenged. The appointments of Justices Rothstein, Iacobucci and Le Dain, who all sat on the Federal Court of Appeal, were not challenged in the least.

Justice committee  I agree—

Justice committee  I think that is an inappropriate interpretation. Some might call it absurd. I would even add that if we take the content of section 6 of the Supreme Court Act at face value, given that we're talking about Superior Court judges and Court of Appeal judges, that means that the chief justice of the Court of Quebec, the Honourable Élizabeth Corte, could not be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Justice committee  Mr. Chair, hon. members, thank you for inviting me to give testimony before you today on clauses 471 and 472 of Bill C-4. In order to stay on time, I will first look at the scope of the proposed amendments and then briefly talk about why sections 5 and 6 of the Supreme Court Act cannot be amended on a purely legislative basis.