David Lametti’s successor as Canada’s justice minister plans to tell his staff and department to move ”expeditiously” on addressing a lack of judges in courtrooms that obviously affects proceedings.

51-year-old Arif Virani was first elected in Toronto’s Parkdale-High Park riding when the Trudeau Liberals swept to power in 2015.

He went on to serve as parliamentary secretary to both Lametti and his predecessor, Jody Wilson-Raybould.

The issue continued under both, with the Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner writing a personal warning to the prime minister earlier this year about the need to speed up the appointment process.

Virani says he intends to give ”marching orders” to move quickly without compromising the quality of judges. 

One of the main issues is a lack of applicants; particularly those with diverse backgrounds.

”Well, then what you have to do is you have reach out to South Asian lawyers or Black lawyers or Indigenous Bar Associations, persons of disability, etc; and make sure people see themselves possibly as a judge,” Virani adds.

Prior to politics, he was a constitutional and human rights lawyer.