Politicize This Harper!

Harper to Politicize Supreme Court Appointments

February 20, 2006
Source: Liberal Party of Canada

The Conservative government announced today that, for the first time in Canadian history, the next judicial appointee to the Supreme Court of Canada will be questioned by a public parliamentary hearing. Although Conservatives promised a free vote in the House of Commons on the appointment of new Supreme Court justices during the election campaign, they will now appoint an ad-hoc parliamentary committee to question the new appointee.

Many legal scholars and jurists –including Justice Bora Laskin, Justice Antonio Lamer and Chief Justice Beverly McLaughlin- have long maintained that publicly cross-examining judicial nominees could lead to a U.S.-style appointments process which will politicize the bench.

Although the next Supreme Court nominee will come from the shortlist of independent candidates put forth by legal experts, Minister Vic Toews and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have made it no secret that they wish to appoint judges who are more favourable to the social conservative viewpoint in the future.

In a speech entitled "Abuse of the Charter by the Supreme Court”, Mr. Toews told his audience:

"The lessons that should not be lost on those who want to see specific policies
implemented in the country is that it is not enough to gain a majority of the
votes in parliament, social policy in this country requires the approval of the
judiciary it is for that reason that my party has been so adamant that the
process for appointing judges needs to be opened up."

Similarly, during the election campaign Prime Minister Harper told reporters:

"The reality is that we will have for some time to come a Liberal senate, a
Liberal civil service, at least senior levels have been appointed by the
Liberals, and courts that have been appointed by the Liberals. So these are
obviously checks on the power of a Conservative government." (CPAC, January 17,
2006)

Minister of Justice Toews has repeatedly shown a lack of respect for Canada’s highest judicial body when the court’s decisions do not coincide with his own views.

For example, in a 2003 "broadcast ministry" run by Concerned Women for America (CWA), Mr. Toews discussed the judiciary's same-sex marriage "agenda":

"We have seen these radical liberal judges who have their own social agenda
coming to the bench and forgetting that their responsibility is to interpret the
law and not to make law. And so we are very, very concerned about that."

The Supreme Court is an independent judicial body and judges should be selected based on the over-riding principle of merit and not on the political leanings of the government of the day. As Liberals, we are highly skeptical of a public hearing process that could become politicized and impinge on the dignity of the Supreme Court.

Canada’s Constitution calls for a clear separation of powers between Parliament, the Executive Branch and the Judiciary. By politicizing the appointments process, the Conservative government is blurring this Constitutional line in order to clear a path for their right-wing social agenda.