as published in The Toronto Star

To the editor:

As the new Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, I would like to take this opportunity to correct the record regarding judicial appointments.

Make no mistake, I understand the importance of making timely judicial appointments, as did my colleague, the Honourable Vic Toews who did a tremendous job in his capacity as the former Justice Minister.

The fact of the matter is, when our New Government was elected on January 23, 2006, there were 23 federal judicial vacancies left from the previous Liberal government.

Naturally, more vacancies have emerged since that time and we responded by appointing 54 federal judges in 2006.

Our Government has made progress on the backlog of vacancies that we inherited when we took office; after our last round of appointments in December, the number of vacancies was reduced to 18. However, between December 14 and January 1, 2007, 23 new vacancies were created because of new options our Government afforded to judges to elect supernumerary status. We have moved expeditiously to fill the vacancies with
qualified and respected candidates, but, as my colleague has stated, we will not sacrifice the quality of our appointments in the interest of speed.

Finally, the changes made by my predecessor to the federal Judicial Advisory Committees (JACs) will expand the range of input the government receives about candidates for the bench, providing a fresh perspective in the process.

Our New Government will continue to appoint judges based on merit and legal excellence, with input from a broad range of stakeholders.

Sincerely,

Hon. Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada