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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 321

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 321 - May/30/24
Mr. Rhéal Éloi Fortin (Rivière-du-Nord, BQ)
  • May/30/24 2:58:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec's justice minister informed us in March that there had been 109 stays of proceedings for unreasonable delays in Quebec alone last year. How can we expect the public to have confidence in our justice system when the course of justice is being impeded? We have been sounding the alarm for years now about this government's careless attitude when it comes to appointing judges. There is still a shortage of nearly 60 judges, and it is a recurring problem. Does the Minister of Justice think it is acceptable for trials to be cancelled because he did not bother to appoint judges?
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Context: House Hansard - 321 - May/30/24
Hon. Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)
  • May/30/24 2:59:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not accept the Bloc Québécois member's question. I have appointed judges to the bench at the fastest rate in Canadian history. Some 113 judges were appointed in my first 10 months. However, there is always more to do. We are in the process of getting it done. With regard to delays in the criminal justice system, we have invested $700 million to improve access to legal aid, which will help speed up trials.
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Context: House Hansard - 321 - May/30/24
Mr. Rhéal Éloi Fortin (Rivière-du-Nord, BQ)
  • May/30/24 3:00:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is obviously in favour of holding trials within a reasonable time, but when people charged with murder or other crimes against the person escape justice due to the backlog in our courts, we are not on board. The minister's statistics aside, releasing violent, dangerous people because there happens to be a shortage of judges has serious consequences on public safety and trust in the justice system. Will the minister support our bill so that people accused of violent crimes will no longer be released simply because the courts ran out of time to try them?
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Context: House Hansard - 321 - May/30/24
Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)
  • May/30/24 7:16:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to start off by just taking a moment to congratulate the citizens of the United States of America and the rule of law that has prevailed this evening. Donald J. Trump has been convicted of 34 felony counts. Justice will be done in the United States, and a serial criminal, who has committed many crimes but never had to pay the price, will finally be behind bars in a matter of a few months. I send my regards to the citizens of the United States. Tonight, the verdict is in, and Donald Trump has been found guilty on 34 counts. Finally, we see justice being served in the United States. There are Conservatives who admire this convicted criminal. I think it is important and very relevant to the debate tonight that Conservatives have imposed five hours of debate, at a cost to Canadians of $400,000. This is being spent on a debate that Conservatives have put forward— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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