Mr. Speaker, for those who are watching, we are debating amendments proposed to Bill C-42. Bill C-42 attempts to legitimize the government's moves to allow Madam Justice Arbour to take a position as a prosecutor in the Hague.
It has been said before that the issue here is neither Madam Justice Arbour nor her credentials; nor is there any question of the honour that has been accorded to her by the UN when it asked her to take this position. The issue is the process that has been followed in order to bring this about.
It is extremely and disturbingly clear that the process followed by the government has demonstrated a disregard which amounts to contempt of the due process of the law. There has been disrespect for our legislation. There has been disrespect for the House. There have been all kinds of games played in order for the government to get its wishes through.
The most disturbing thing about this is that it has become a pattern of the government. As a new member of the House, having sat here for the last three years, I have become more and more concerned and upset about this pattern of behaviour, this pattern of dealing in the House. It is not too strong a statement to say that the democratic process is being eroded little by little, day by day, in the most overt way possible by the government.
I believe the government is doing so because it believes the citizens of Canada will not know, will not realize, will not be able to really see, as they carry on their daily lives, what is happening in this institution so it feels it can away with this sort of thing.
There are some very glaring contraventions of what would be right and proper. Mr. Speaker, I know you will be interested in hearing some of my concerns because you voiced them in the last Parliament, as did many of the opposition members. We have all seen the erosion and the blatant disregard and contravention of democratic process in the House.
The Judges Act does not presently allow any judge to accept any employment except from the Government of Canada. In order to get around that, an arrangement was made whereby this justice would continue to be paid by the Government of Canada from funds provided to it by the UN. Technically the cheque was being cut by the Government of Canada although the funds originated
somewhere else through another arrangement. With a little sleight of hand, a little deception, a little under the table juggling, a clear provision of the Judges Act was simply rejigged because it was inconvenient.
The Judges Act does not allow judges to accept employment from any employer other than the Government of Canada. Of course, the employer in question is not the Government of Canada but the UN which has asked Madam Justice Arbour to be a prosecutor in the Hague.
The government found a certain provision in the Judges Act to be rather inconvenient in terms of what it wanted to do. There seems to have been plenty of evidence over the last three years as I have watched the operation of the Liberal government, that one of its guiding principles is the end justifies the means. Its guiding principle is: "If we think something should be done, if we intend to do something, then whatever means it takes to accomplish that, even if we have to sweep aside some rather inconvenient democratic conventions, so be it".
We see that in committee. Committee chairmen, instead of being chosen freely and fairly by their peers, are chosen by the Prime Minister and his advisers. Then a charade is played out in committee and government members simply stand up like trained seals and vote for whoever they are told is going to be the committee chairman.
If there are procedures in the committee which are inconvenient to the minister or the government, because committees are supposed to be the masters of their own process, there is a vote by the majority, the government members on the committee, which sweeps aside long established democratic processes in order to get on with the job. After all, as government members, they know what is best in committee. Why should the rotten opposition members be able to hold up the works?
It is extremely disturbing. Government members should be very concerned about what is happening by this process. I do not think it is a secret to anybody that the democratic process, democratic conventions, democratic protections and checks and balances are cavalierly being ignored, swept under the table and run roughshod over in order for government to do what it is going to do anyway.
The government does not want to talk about how it deals with issues and how legislation, due process and democratic convention are being contravened. If we dare to stand up and talk about it, suddenly there is a problem-