Day 5 — March 30, 2011
Are you proud of the human rights Canadians now enjoy because of decisions made by the Supreme Court? Do you feel your personal rights are better protected under its family law clarifications? Have you found a friend in your disputes with Revenue Canada thanks to the Court's rulings? Are you feeling more confident about national unity because of guidelines set down by the court for matters of succession?
If so, who will select the candidates to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada during the term of the next government should be of vital interest to you, and every other Canadian.
Fully eight of the current nine judges are eligible to retire at the end of this year. Four of them must retire (because of the age cap of 75 years) within the next four years.
This means that in the next term of government — particularly true if one party is granted a majority by voters — will be able to appoint a minimum of four and up to eight new Supreme Court judges. Depending upon the age of those named to these important positions, the upcoming appointments stand to influence the flavour and tenor of Canadian jurisprudence for many years to come.
Who do you want to make these choices? As a matter of law, it will be our next Prime Minister. Please give some thought to who you feel would most accurately reflect your values, hopes and rights in making these important appointments.
I know who I want to pick the next crop, what about you?
Brief Supreme Court primer & other sources
The Supreme Court of Canada is the final appeals court for all judicial matters in the country. They hear appeals on matters ranging from tax to matrimonial to human rights to constitutional matters to corporate law. As such, the decisions of the Court have the potential to affect the lives and rights of all Canadians in a definitive and far-reaching manner.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the eight other judges are appointed by order-in-council appointments, that is to say made by the prime minister and his/her cabinet of the day. By convention, the Court’s composition reflects a regional representation and takes into account Québec’s different system of law, the droit civil.
The appointment process, under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Justice, draws names from those proposed by provincial judicial appointments committees. Supreme Court judges are predominately drawn from among judges currently serving on the provincial or territorial Superior courts or other specialty federal courts. Typically, one Justice is elevated directly from the practice of law. Prime Minister Stephen Harper made changes to these provincial appointments committees by increasing political appointee membership and adding strong law and order police representatives to their composition. These changes were very unpopular among the legal community.
The nominee(s) selected by the Prime Minister from the assembled lists will then appear before a parliamentary committee for a three hour period of questions — an interview board if you like. This committee has no veto power and it is ultimately the Prime Minister’s decision to withdraw a candidate’s name or proceed with an appointment to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Justices face mandatory retirement at age 75. As is the case with other jobs, employees may be eligible for their full pensions prior to mandatory retirement because of their length of service. By the end of this year, fully eight of the nine Supreme Court Justices will be eligible for their full pension benefits meaning they might be enticed to announce their retirements for personal reasons.
According to recent media reports, 4 of 9 current justices will face the mandatory retirement age within the mandate of a new government — assuming a 4-yr., majority government. By December 2015, Justices Ian Binnie (Ontario), Louis LeBel (Québec), Morris Fish (Québec) and Marshall Rothstein (Manitoba) will have retired from the bench.
Chief Justice Beverly McLaughlin (British Columbia) must retire by September 2018.
See also articles on this subject by following these links:
Ottawa Citizen Feb 7, 2011
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Harper+could+position+revamp+Supreme+Court/4238146/story.html
Canadian Broadcast Corporation, February 28, 2006. Indepth article from News department
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/supremecourt/
Straight.com, Vancouver’s Online Source
http://www.straight.com/article-383660/vancouver/upcoming-supreme-court-canada-retirements-make-very-important-federal-election
Backgrounder about Supreme Court Judicial Appointments from MapleLeafWeb.com
http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/supreme-court-canada-appointment-process
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