Status of Women committee  That was a suggestion made by Maître Sabourin—

Status of Women committee  —so he may have additional comments to make. From our standpoint, obviously, in administering the judicial appointments process, this would not cause a problem in our administration of the process and obviously would not slow down the assessment of candidates. With regard to th

Status of Women committee  There may be a way of doing so, but one needs to remember that oftentimes candidates will apply to more than one court. They may apply to the Federal Court, but they also may apply to the superior court in their own province. So while there may be a way, there would be certainly

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm pleased to be before you again today. My comments will be quite brief. I don't mean to repeat what I've already said but wish to remind the committee of some of the points I raised the last time. First, I'm of the view that it's entirely fair and app

Status of Women committee  I can comment on some of this. The new process that the government put in place recently does a lot to remedy some of the gaps. The government called upon people to apply if they wished to become committee members on the judicial advisory committees. There's much more diversity n

Status of Women committee  Following the changes or amendments that would be made by the bill, the short answer is no. We administer 17 advisory committees across the country. We have staff members attending every meeting of those committees. There are about 50 of them a year. So we have staff members cons

Status of Women committee  Well, I can offer some comments. I think my esteemed colleagues might have some views as well. I don't know that I want to speak to how the federal government may impose this upon judges. I can speak to the fact that at the current time, with the process that is now in place, t

Status of Women committee  I think Mr. Sabourin highlighted a suggestion earlier, or he may explain that further later on. To ensure that newly appointed judges receive proper training, in whichever area, there could be an undertaking by candidates in the questionnaire that they fill out to become judges.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, thank you for this invitation and the opportunity to make a few remarks on Bill C-337. I am the deputy commissioner for federal judicial affairs and I am now also fulfilling the role of commissioner. Before commenting on Bill C-337, I would like to speak briefly ab