Another Harper Government Law Overturned

[On Guard for Thee]

What really kills me is that judges and lawyers are always going every single little detail making sure every I is dotted and T is crossed!

This isn't just some minor mix up either, did the conservatives really think that the judges on the SCC were going to overlook something this freekin huge?!??!?!?!

I can see a poster here making some errors in a comment, or someone at their job making some small mistakes that get corrected eventually. But when the government has staff numbers in the 100's if not 1000's and countless legal advisors with millions of dollars in their budgets consulting the government on everything, you've got to really question the competence of the conservatives!

WWWTT

I've been questioning their competence for a fair while now. Talking heads with no apparent intellect and a lot of disregard for our constitution.

[waldo]

The ruling is clear, but the law certainly was not up until that point.

The question was based on:

"Three judges shall be appointed from among the judges of the Court of Appeal or of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec or from among the advocates of that province.”

It was a technical question. Most of us would say Nadon was a lawyer from Quebec. The question they spent all their time on was defining 'of'. They decided 'of' meant a lawyer presently in Quebec, presently practicing law in Quebec.

To quote Andrew Coyne, it sounds like a pretty flaky decision. Most of us would say Nadon was certainly a Lawyer from Quebec, which would be how we would define 'of' Quebec.

it's not the single word, it's the phrase: "among the judges of"... implying active judges. And again, since you earlier mentioned familiarity with the law, criteria aligned with an active judge is most certainly going speak to the degree of familiarity with the current laws/more current case law.

as I interpret, Nadon doesn't appear to carry any overwhelming position/profile associated with his career... specializing in 'maritime law'. Not sure what all the fuss is about... certainly there must be better candidates available simply based on measured career contributions.

[Argus]

don't spill any of that Koolaid on your shirt. It might stain.

You regard that as an intelligent contribution to the discussion, do you?

[Argus]

it's not the single word, it's the phrase: "among the judges of"... implying active judges. And again, since you earlier mentioned familiarity with the law, criteria aligned with an active judge is most certainly going speak to the degree of familiarity with the current laws/more current case law.

as I interpret, Nadon doesn't appear to carry any overwhelming position/profile associated with his career... specializing in 'maritime law'. Not sure what all the fuss is about... certainly there must be better candidates available simply based on measured career contributions.

I don't know why federal judges aren't mentioned on the list, bur regarldess, I agree Nadon didn't seem like a particularly bright light amongst the legal types out there. The assumption is he was selected because of conservative beliefs, but he was appointed by Chretien, so how conservative could he really have been? Of course, provincial judges are appointed by provincial governments, so all of them in Quebec are probably pretty left of center and pretty interventionist. That only leaves Superior court, which has maybe 100 judges in Quebec. Add in that the judge would have to be bilingual, and have some years of service, not be a former Liberal Party bagman, and I'm not sure how big a choice they have.

[Big Guy]

Personally, I do not question the decisions of our Supreme Court judges. They have access to a lot more information that you, I or any politician has. They hear the arguments from both sides. The law is what they say is the law as best they can analyze and/or apply it. Like in a baseball game; the pitcher could one bounce the ball across the plate and if the umpire call it a strike then it is a strike. You accept the call and move on.