5th Supreme Court Judge Appointed by Stephen Harper

[login]

http://www.theglobea...6/?from=6144038

Two more set to retire this year........

that means 7 of the judges on the Supreme Court will be Harper nominations.

That is 7 of 9 judges.

The Honourable Mr. Justice Louis LeBel

Mandatory retirement date: Nov. 30, 2014

The Honourable Mr. Justice Morris J. Fish

Mandatory retirement date: Nov. 16, 2013

so other than

The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Chief Justice of Canada

Mandatory retirement date: Sept. 7, 2018

who was nominated by Brian Mulrooney all justices will be Harper nominees before the next election...

http://www.cbc.ca/ne.../supreme-court/

AND ALL OF THEM CONSERVATIVE NOMINEES. 9 of 9 before the next election.

Edited December 10, 2012 by login

[Shakeyhands]

So what does this mean to you? Are you happy? Worried? What?

[Guest]

Someone has to appoint them. I'll do it if Harper's busy.

[Topaz]

I can see 2013-14 but I can't see the Tories in power in 2018. That means voters will like what the Tories are going to do with Health care and as for the judges, I would hope they are more honourable than Harper when it comes to decisions of the law.

[g_bambino]

AND ALL OF THEM CONSERVATIVE NOMINEES. 9 of 9 before the next election.

OH NO!!!!

Wait, what'm I supposed to be worried about?

[login]

The reason this is up is because it is signifigant, much like more and more of the upper house being filled with relatively young conservatives.

When was the last time the entire supreme court was appointed by one political party? They keep the seats until they are 75.

Edited December 12, 2012 by login

[Guest]

I have to admit I'm unfamiliar with the process if it goes beyond just the political party in government appointing one when a vacancy opens up.

How was it done in the past?

[Topaz]

IF there were term limits what would be the ideal for a supreme court judge....10 years?

[Smallc]

Why?

[Wayward Son]

The reason this is up is because it is signifigant, much like more and more of the upper house being filled with relatively young conservatives.

When was the last time the entire supreme court was appointed by one political party? They keep the seats until they are 75.

I don't think it has ever happened (not that I am saying that it will happen this time). In the early 90s Lamar was only justice not appointed the PCs. In the early 50's Kerwin was the only justice not appointed by the Liberals, so it has been lopsided before (in terms of political party that appointed the justices), but I see no evidence that appointments have been or are being made based on political ideology. I haven't paid much attention to Harper's appointments, but certainly his most recent appointment (Wagner) seems to be a solid pick, so I have no issues with it. This is not like the United States where as far as I am concerned things have become little more then a farce where each SC judge rules based on their political ideology and then finds legal precedent or reasons to support their position. People with a decent amount of knowledge can predict with about 90% accuracy how the US supreme justices will rule. I see no evidence of that being the case in Canada for any of the 9 justices.

The other potential fear you raise is the idea of the court being stacked with young conservatives, who would therefore be able to influence the court for a long period of time (In the US before 1970 judges served an average of less than 15 years, since 1970 the average has exceeded 25 years, and in choosing Roberts as chief justice at the age 50, and with no supreme court experience, was clearly an attempt by Bush to influence the court politically as much as Rehnquist did during his 19 years as chief justice). I can see how this would be a concern (whether it is young conservates, Liberals or whoever being appointed), but I don't see this being the case either. Harper's appointment's have all been in the normal 55 - 65 age range for previous appointments. There have been few exceptions to this in the past (McLachlin, Larmer and Kerwin were all about 45 - and all incidently became chief justices)

Edited December 12, 2012 by Wayward Son

[login]

Although I think it is possible there have been instances, this is the first time I think 9 of the judges have all been one party. I think in the past there were only 5 or 7 judges, but this is 9 and 8 of the nine nominated by the PM.

I think it would be great to know if any of them are card carrying members of a political party, or how they vote or if they have ever donated to a political party.

Edited December 13, 2012 by login

[g_bambino]

[ed.: rm]

Edited December 13, 2012 by g_bambino

[Moonbox]

The reason this is up is because it is signifigant, much like more and more of the upper house being filled with relatively young conservatives.

When was the last time the entire supreme court was appointed by one political party? They keep the seats until they are 75.

This is less worrying than the Senate appointments, as far as I'm concerned. Why? Because I have a fair bit of faith in Canada's judicial system and a lot of respect for most judges, especially senior ones. These people are not beholden to their appointers and can, and often do, overrule government positions. They'll follow the Law, not Harper's agenda.