Roundup: The Chief Justice gives a strong warning

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Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Richard Wagner, delivered his annual news conference yesterday, which had been planned a month ago and the timing was purely coincidental regarding the sudden resignation of Justice Russell Brown. That was not the main topic of his remarks, however—that was about the slow pace of judicial appointments as some eighty or so spots remain unfilled, and it can take up to a year-and-a-half to fill the positions of chief justice or associate chief justice in a province. And Wagner has been pretty vocal about this.

Wagner did note that the prime minister did call him after getting his letter, and said that he was going to do what he could to improve the situation, but appointments are a problem for this government. In fact, the only time they have managed timely appointments are for the Supreme Court of Canada. One of the problems is that right now, a number of Judicial Advisory Committees, which vet prospective candidates, remain empty, meaning they need to be filled before they can get to the work of vetting applications for judges. And it’s not just the courts—nearly one fifth of Senate seats are currently vacant for much the same reason. And it’s not like these vacancies are a surprise—judges typically give six months’ notice before they retire, if they don’t reach mandatory retirement. Senators also age out, the date of which is clearly known and posted, so they have absolutely no excuse for not moving fast to fill upcoming vacancies. And yet they don’t.

As you have no doubt heard me say before on numerous occasions, one of the biggest problems is that this government made the decision to rely on self-nominations for these kinds of positions, while at the same time, committing to diversifying the bench (or the Senate). But when you rely on self-nomination, the kinds of people they want to apply and to appoint aren’t applying because they don’t see themselves in these roles (because the ingrained perception is that judges or senators are old white men), meaning that they need to go out and push people to apply and that takes time. They could instead just go out and nominate people, or have their appointments committees do that work, rather than just passively waiting for applications. To add to that, there is frequently a demonstrable difference in the performance of someone who was nominated (for whom they often see it as an honour to be considered) versus someone who applies (and feels entitled as a result),  But they refuse to see this and do that work, so we’re left constantly waiting for their poor process to play out, with the resulting delays that it entails while things crumble around them.

Ukraine Dispatch:

The Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih—the hometown of president Volodymyr Zelenskyy—killed at least eleven people when it struck an apartment building. As well, Russian missiles struck Odesa, killing at least three people in the early Wednesday morning. As well, independent confirmation is starting to roll in about Ukrainian gains in the counter-offensive.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1668511155160055808

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1668523632266469377

Good reads:

  • It looks like Marco Mendicino’s office was informed of the Paul Bernardo transfer months in advance but didn’t tell him about it, and I can barely even.
  • The government’s bill to enshrine a right to a health environment has now passed.
  • The Information Commissioner’s annual report calls out the government for not caring about improving transparency, in spite of their rhetoric about it.
  • The former national security advisor and the current RCMP Commissioner appeared at committee on the foreign interference allegations, and said why they didn’t act.
  • The director of CSIS was also at committee, and said that the Act prohibits CSIS from warning MPs who are targets. (Tweets from Stephanie Carvin here).
  • The Bloc have offered suggestions of Quebeckers who could lead a public inquiry—but most would be unacceptable to the Conservatives. The NDP want a committee.
  • The NDP tabled a “pharmacare bill,” which isn’t that, and is a too-cute-by-half stunt that just wastes Parliament’s time.
  • Former MP and current mayor of Mississauga Bonnie Crombie has formally entered the Ontario Liberal leadership race.
  • Emmett Macfarlane has a few thoughts on the resignation of Justice Brown from the Supreme Court of Canada under less than ideal circumstances.
  • My column walks through some of the considerations around a public inquiry, and wonders if it will really solve what we are pinning our hopes on.

Odds and ends:

Ben Collins writes about losing the information war, and why journalism needs to do a better job of telling the stories in the face of disinformation.

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