Senator Boisvenu: Senator Gold, you and I both know that, in justice matters, the appearance of a conflict of interest is just as damaging as an actual conflict. The revelations I mentioned earlier raised legitimate concerns in the court of public opinion in June 2020.

The Trudeau government responded to the criticism by stating that it would no longer use the Liberalist, but recent partisan appointments show that it did keep using that list. In fact, a friend of Minister Lametti’s who made a campaign contribution was appointed to the bench.

In order to allay any suspicion that politics might play a part in the judicial system, and to enable the Senate to get involved in the process, would you agree to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs conducting a study to uncover the truth about the Liberal government’s appointment of partisan judges?