Speech (House debate)

{
    "time": "2008-01-31 15:55:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Mr. Bill Siksay (Burnaby\u2014Douglas, NDP)",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"875048\" data-originallang=\"en\">Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the member saw a news report in the <em>Ottawa Citizen</em> earlier this week, a story about how the government is having difficulty finding lawyers who are willing to act as special advocates, who are even willing to apply for the position. Apparently, so far only 50 have responded to the month-long recruitment campaign.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"875049\" data-originallang=\"en\">There were reasons given for that by two very prominent legal experts. Lorne Waldman, a very prominent immigration lawyer, actually an expert on the special advocacy process, said, \u201cGiven the nature of what the lawyers are being asked to do, it does not surprise me that there has not been an overwhelming response\u201d. He further went on to say that the system \u201cfundamentally abrogates\u201d the right of the accused to know the evidence against them. He points out very serious problems.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"875050\" data-originallang=\"en\">Vanessa Gruben, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, also says that she thinks that the low number of applications for special advocate positions may stem from concerns about the proposed security certificate legislation. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"875051\" data-originallang=\"en\">There are concerns among the legal community that the model proposed in Bill <a data-HoCid=\"3076462\" href=\"/bills/39-2/C-3/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (certificate and special advocate) and to make a consequential amendment to another Act\">C-3</a> falls short of the constitutional standards set by the Supreme Court. That is also supported by the Canadian Bar Association and the Federation of Law Societies in Canada.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"875052\" data-originallang=\"en\">I wonder, given those very serious concerns, why the member can support this legislation.</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"875048\" data-originallang=\"en\">Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, je ne sais pas si mon coll\u00e8gue a lu l'article paru dans le <em>Ottawa Citizen</em> plus t\u00f4t cette semaine, o\u00f9 il \u00e9tait question de la difficult\u00e9 qu'a le gouvernement \u00e0 trouver des avocats qui seraient dispos\u00e9s \u00e0 devenir des avocats sp\u00e9ciaux ou m\u00eame \u00e0 postuler en vue d'occuper un tel poste. Jusqu'ici, seulement 50 candidats auraient r\u00e9pondu \u00e0 la campagne de recrutement amorc\u00e9e il y a un mois.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"875049\" data-originallang=\"en\">Deux \u00e9minents juristes ont sugg\u00e9r\u00e9 une explication. Lorne Waldman, un avocat tr\u00e8s r\u00e9put\u00e9 sp\u00e9cialis\u00e9 en droit de l'immigration, qui est aussi un sp\u00e9cialiste du processus entourant les avocats sp\u00e9ciaux, a dit: \u00ab Compte tenu de la nature du travail demand\u00e9 aux avocats, je ne suis pas \u00e9tonn\u00e9 du manque d'enthousiasme. \u00bb Il a ajout\u00e9 que le syst\u00e8me \u00ab abolit fondamentalement \u00bb le droit de l'accus\u00e9 de conna\u00eetre la preuve qui p\u00e8se contre lui. Il a \u00e9galement soulev\u00e9 d'autres probl\u00e8mes tr\u00e8s graves. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"875050\" data-originallang=\"en\">Vanessa Gruben, professeure de droit \u00e0 l'Universit\u00e9 d'Ottawa, pense elle aussi que la raret\u00e9 des candidats qui se sont manifest\u00e9s pour les postes d'avocat sp\u00e9cial pourrait \u00eatre attribuable aux r\u00e9serves suscit\u00e9es par la loi propos\u00e9e sur les certificats de s\u00e9curit\u00e9.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"875051\" data-originallang=\"en\">Dans le milieu juridique, on craint que le mod\u00e8le propos\u00e9 dans le projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"3076462\" href=\"/bills/39-2/C-3/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (certificate and special advocate) and to make a consequential amendment to another Act\">C-3</a> ne soit pas \u00e0 la hauteur des normes constitutionnelles \u00e9tablies par la Cour supr\u00eame. C'est aussi ce que redoutent l'Association du Barreau canadien et la F\u00e9d\u00e9ration des ordres professionnels de juristes du Canada. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"875052\" data-originallang=\"en\">Compte tenu de toutes ces inqui\u00e9tudes tr\u00e8s graves, je me demande comment le d\u00e9put\u00e9 peut appuyer ce projet de loi.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/debates/2008/1/31/bill-siksay-7/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/bill-siksay/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/1264/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "2291711",
    "h1": {
        "en": "Government Orders",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "h2": {
        "en": "Immigration and Refugee Protection Act",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "document_url": "/debates/2008/1/31/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fdebates%2F2008%2F1%2F31%2F"
    }
}