The Chief Justice has written to the Prime Minister to remind him that Justice LeBel will retire on November 30th, which would mean a second Quebec seat vacant on the bench. It’s notable because often a soon-to-retire Justice would retire before the next session began, and just finish off any decisions still in the works on their way out. Instead, Justice LeBel is staying on to the bitter end, likely because the Court is not confident that the PM will have a suitable replacement in time, given the way that they handled the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Fish. Peter MacKay has promised that they’ll have a name for the currently vacant seat (that Justice Nadon was retroactively never appointed to) “soon,” but it’s also a reminder that they’d better get the process started for the next appointment as well. It’s also leading to more calls that the process as it stands needs to be reformed so as to be more transparent, so this might be the impetus to make those changes.
Nowhere is the need for those changes made apparent than in this explosive piece from the Globe, which pulls back the curtains of the Nadon selection process and exposes it for the sham that it was – four of six names on the list were Federal Court justices because they could give the PM more of what he wanted, and definite cause for concern for the Chief Justice, making her call to the Justice Minister to warn him about eligibility issues all the more necessary and salient – and vindicating her in the process. It raises all kinds of troubling questions about the way that the PM treated the process and used the “open and transparent” committee process to launder it for public consumption, which is an extremely troubling precedent going forward.
The NDP are sounding the alarm that opposition parties have not been invited to the maternal and child health summit next week, despite reaching out and asking to be included. I’m not sure why this would surprise anyone.
With Assembly of First Nations chiefs meeting next week, there is a renewed interest in having the organisation renew itself and its mandate given the changing demographics among First Nations communities, and finding a new way to deal with contentious issues like the First Nations education bill. It is also said that the vocal opposing chiefs are in the minority, but there will need to be a leader who can present some kind of unifying vision going forward.
A group of academics and civil liberties groups have signed a seven-point declaration of mass surveillance, which calls on the government for greater transparency and oversight with surveillance, and an end to the attempts to expand warrantless access.
As the rail grain bill heads closer toward passing Parliament, there is talk about the need to modernize the entire grain supply chain in the wake of the demise of the Canadian Wheat Board.
Rainbow Day takes place on the Hill on Tuesday next week, where queer youth shadow gay and lesbian MPs around the Hill for a day. Out lesbian Conservative Senator Nancy Ruth was apparently not invited to participate, though she doesn’t see the value in shadowing as much as a more educational seminar for queer youth would be.
The organizer behind the campaign of Eve Adams’ rival in Oakville North–Burlington is also backing another campaign to oust the incumbent, David Tilson, in Dufferin–Caledon. (He didn’t succeed). Meanwhile, Eve Adams and Dimitri Soudas are proclaiming their innocence against allegations of shenanigans, Adams insisting that she always takes the high road and doesn’t attack fellow Conservatives.
Over in BC, the BC Liberals (no relation to the federal Liberals) are holding their convention this weekend, and Premier Christy Clark wants the party to transform itself into a more grassroots-driven party that better engages people between elections. The talk of rebranding the party has moved off the table since their latest majority election victory.
And Susan Delacourt looks at the Justin Trudeau/abortion issue, and wonders about the growing tendency of arbitrary decision-making that Trudeau seems to be demonstrating.