MPs named to help choose new Supreme Court justice

OTTAWA -- Three Conservative MPs, a New Democrat and a Liberal will help select the Supreme Court of Canada's next judge.

The federal government says Conservative MPs Jacques Gourde, Kerry-Lynne Findlay and Greg Rickford will sit on a selection panel to help choose a replacement for Marie Deschamps of Quebec, who retired from the bench as of Tuesday.

New Democrat MP Francoise Boivin and Liberal MP Stephane Dion will also be on the panel.

The government says the panel will review and assess a list of qualified candidates put forward by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson in consultation with the prime minister, the chief justice of Canada, the chief justice of Quebec, the attorney general of Quebec and key bar associations.

The Justice Department says Nicholson's office has also received public input concerning worthy candidates.

The panel is to provide an unranked list of three candidates to Nicholson and the prime minister, from which they will select a nominee.

The nominee will appear at a public hearing of a special parliamentary committee, a procedure that has been in place for six years.