Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said Canadians are expressing concerns over the prime minister's "manoeuvres" to drastically change the composition of the committee that selects our judges.
Dion brought the issue up during question period on Monday, following a report in today's Globe and Mail that the Conservative government has stacked judicial advisory committees with Tory partisans.
"Canadians want our judges to be selected without political or ideological interference. Will the prime minister stop his shameless attempts to stack the committees with his ideologue friends?" Dion asked during question period.
House Leader Peter Van Loan said the government will continue to appoint judges based on merit and input from "a broad range of stakeholders."
"In fact, as you know, the government has announced that we will be adding representatives from the law-enforcement community," Van Loan said, adding that it's "odd that the leader of the Opposition would consider members of the law-enforcement community ideologues."
The Tories stressed that these appointed committee members are not paid.
But the committee members do carry weight. The justice minister appoints judges based on those recommended by the committee.
Dion said if Canadians had any doubts about how far this government will go to cater to its ultra-conservative base, they now have proof.
"Canada's system for selecting judges worked. The prime minister is pretending to fix something that everybody knows isn't broken," he said.
"Will the prime minister show respect for our judicial system and stop his blatant attempts to politicize and control the judges?"
Van Loan responded by saying the government's objective was to secure safer communities.
"In terms of the judicial system and how our country works, Canadians are clear," he said.
"They want a parliament that passes laws and they want a judiciary that's independent, interprets those laws and applies those laws. Everything we are doing is designed to achieve that objective."
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe also waded into the debate, questioning whether the government was living up to its promise to be accountable.
"After having campaigned on accountability and integrity, did the prime minister not fall into the same practices as his predecessor?" Duceppe asked.
Van Loan disputed those claims, saying the government remains committed to appointing judges on merit.
"Part of doing that is having a judicial advisory committee that is composed of quality people, all of whom I might add are serving at no cost to the taxpayers as volunteers ... with a mind to putting up the bench at the very best possible people," Van Loan said.
Judicial bias
Some Tory members, before taking office, argued for changing the judiciary to counter what they view as its left-leaning bias and activist tendencies.
Marlene Jennings said the committee was supposed to be seven members -- three of whom were appointed by the federal government and four by the courts, the Canadian Bar Association and by the provincial bar association. And all members carried the right to vote.
Liberals have charged that by changing the committees' structure, the Conservatives are unduly influencing the recommendation process of judges.
Liberal justice critic Marlene Jennings said the committee was supposed to be comprised of seven members.
But under former justice minister Vic Toews, she said the Tories increased that number to eight, took away the right of the judges -- who chaired each advisory committee -- to vote, and added on a fourth member appointed by the federal government.
"So the Conservatives have actually taken over the majority of the voting members of that committee," Jennings told Mike Duffy Live on Monday.
The problem, added NDP justice critic Joe Comartin, is that this adds a "real serious risk of politicizing the judiciary," as well as Canada's police officers.
Under an appointed judicial advisor committee, said Comartin, police officers carry the "swing vote."
Rob Moore, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Justice, said Liberals have been appointing committee members for 13 years. He insisted his party is simply broadening the base of input that his ministry receives on the appointments.
"It's amazing, actually, that every one of the judges that have been appointed so far was recommended by the judicial advisory committee that was put in place by the Liberals," Moore told Mike Duffy Live.
"But they don't want police officers to have a voice on these committees? Police officers should have a role. ... They play an integral part in our justice system; we want them to have a role in providing advice to the ministry."
