Roundup: A new Chief Justice

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The justice minister announced yesterday morning that the prime minister would be naming Justice Richard Wagner as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, thus both respecting the tradition of alternating between a Common Law and a Civil Law judge as the Chief, as well as picking an accomplished jurist who has 15 years left on the bench, ensuring that there is a long enough period of stability on the Court. Wagner is well respected in the Quebec courts, where he hailed from, and it is noted that he doesn’t really fit into the left-right divide – something that is not only indicative of our Canadian system, but is one of those things that people point to when they note how a Liberal PM can elevate a judge chosen by his Conservative predecessor.

A trip to the Maclean’s archives finds this piece by Paul Wells on the day that Wagner was named to the Supreme Court was also the day that Justin Trudeau threw his hat into the ring for Liberal leadership, and that both men had famous fathers in political circles. Tasha Kheiriddin notes the choice of Wagner is a safe one.

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It’s also worth noting that Wagner also becomes Deputy Governor General with his elevation to Chief Justice, and he can grant royal assent to bills in the event that the GG herself is ill or absent; he opens Parliament before a Speaker is elected; and he will head the committee in charge of nominating people to the Order of Canada. The practice since 1939 also used to be that the Chief Justice would close a session of Parliament instead of the Governor General following some particular manoeuvring by Mackenzie King while the GG was out of town, until the government stopped with prorogation ceremonies. (If you ask me, they should restore the ceremonies, but with the GG doing them).

Good reads:

  • More allegations that Kent Hehr was rude to stakeholders, but this time, he denies that he said what was being claimed.
  • Ethics Commissioner nominee Mario Dion went before the Commons ethics committee, but complaints about the appointment process dominated.
  • Dion also didn’t promise to complete any outstanding investigations but also didn’t say he would drop them either, saying he wants to look over their genesis.
  • The government officially launched the procurement process for new fighters, and also announced the acquisition of used Australian F-18s.
  • One of the procurement elements will disadvantage bids from companies who would harm the Canada’s economic interests; Boeing may sit out the competition.
  • Here are five of the options for new fighters, while John Geddes looks into some of the questions that this announcement raises.
  • Here’s a look at the pointless argument about trade deficits that Donald Trump is trying to have over NAFTA.
  • Unifor president Jerry Dias is meeting with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in order to try to work out an auto deal. I’m sure that will really help things.
  • The Canadian Forces is funding research to try to prevent young women from becoming radicalized by groups like ISIS.
  • Marc Garneau got a bit of a rough ride in the Senate over his omnibus transport bill which he refuses to split, and which doesn’t enshrine passenger rights in legislation.
  • The Senate passed a bill that would strike the title of the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act from the books in favour of something less insulting.
  • Senator Harder wants a televised Committee of the Whole with three ministers for the marijuana bill in February. As I previously explained, this is overkill.
  • Here’s a look at the race to replace Brad Wall, and its lack of charisma.
  • Éric Grenier crunches the numbers of Monday’s by-election results.
  • Susan Delacourt suggests that all of the drama in the House of Commons isn’t filtering down to most Canadians, as evidenced by the by-elections wins.
  • Chantal Hébert looks at the trouble that both Andrew Scheer and Jagmeet Singh are in after the by-election results.
  • My column looks at the nomination of Mario Dion as Ethics Commissioner, and wonders if he was the only qualified candidate for the job.

Odds and ends: