Vacancy Arising On Supreme Court Of Canada

Controversy is already swirling around who will replace Mr. Justice Peter Cory when he retires from the Supreme Court of Canada in June.

Controversy over judicial appointments has been the rule ever since the 1982 Charter of Rights which greatly expanded the role of judges. Before the Charter, judges merely interpreted the law and left the drafting of legislation to the legislators. Under the Charter, however, judges are now ruling on the merits of legislation and are creating new law and social policies. The practical effect of this, is that judges under the Charter have acquired unfettered power to impose their own political and ideological perspective on the public. This has made them the most powerful and influential individuals in Canada. Thus, the appointment of Supreme Court of Canada judges is a matter of tremendous importance to Canadians, since we must all live under the rule of these appointed and unaccountable judges.

As Mr. Justice Cory comes from Ontario, his replacement will be from that province as well. Moreover, this appointment will probably be the last one from Ontario for a decade or more. This has fiercely intensified the lobbying to replace Mr. Justice Cory.

The left-leaning media, of course, is determined that any new judge must be a woman, since at the present time, there are "only" two female judges of nine members on the Supreme Court of Canada. To back them, a provocative "timely" study by Professor of Political Science, Peter McCormick, of the University of Lethbridge, informs us that these two female judges on the court are marginalized there.

What nonsense! Women no more think alike than do men, but have opinions according to their differing social, economic, cultural and religious backgrounds. As the two female judges on the Supreme Court of Canada are ideological feminists, we don't need any more!

Not surprisingly, though, the media are placing a positive spin on the two leading feminist contenders.

1. Madame Justice Louise Arbour

She was formerly a member of the Ontario Court of Appeal, and is now a prosecutor of the UN International Tribunal in Yugoslavia. In accepting this latter appointment to the international court, Judge Arbour contravened the Judges Act, which specifically states that Canadian judges must work only under Parliament and be paid by Parliament. Instead, Judge Arbour is paid an untaxed $250,000 US plus expenses (approximately $500,000 CDN), each year by the UN and works under its jurisdiction. Her friend, then Justice Minister, Alan Rock, had to scramble to amend the Judges Act to protect Ms. Arbour for her violation of the law. Last June, Ms. Arbour was ordered by the International Tribunal to release a prisoner, improperly held. Ms. Arbour has ignored this order to date. She is best remembered in Canada for her report of a riot in a women's prison which led to many millions of dollars' damage to government property and serious harm to several inmates. Ms. Arbour overlooked the damage, as well as harm to other prisoners. Instead of criticizing the rioters, Judge Arbour soundly condemned the police and guards for hosing and strip searching them.

She is a woman who believes she has all the answers, which are always coloured by her aggressive feminism.

2. Rosalie Abella

Madame Justice Rosalie Abella of the Ontario Court of Appeal is a judge living in the rarefied atmosphere of pure feminist ideology, untainted by human experience or practical realities. This is due to the fact that she has never had to practice law and struggle for her income. Instead, she has always held appointments paid for by the government. Almost immediately out of law school, due to her gender and minority faith, she was spirited to the Family Court and then a series of government positions, e.g., Ontario Law Reform Commission and Labour Relations Board, until her appointment to the Court of Appeal. She is best remembered for her strident feminist, politically correct opinions.

• In 1984, Ms. Abella headed a one-woman commission on employment equity which report has been severely criticized because she reached the conclusion, without providing any evidence, that women experience discrimination in the work place. On this unproven assumption, she then proposed employment equity legislation to remedy the problem.

• In 1995, Judge Abella lowered the age of consent for anal sex from 18 to 14 years of age. She stated in her judgement that anal sex was "a basic form of sexual expression for gay men."

• In 1997, Ms. Abella stated same-sex couples were entitled to pension benefits, again with no evidence; she also deliberately ignored the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Nesbit and Egan (1995) that stated same-sex couples were not the same as heterosexual couples -- and did not require the awarding of benefits to them. Under our political system, Judge Abella is bound to follow the decision of the highest court, the Supreme Court of Canada -- but she refused to do so, since it didn't fit into her ideology.

Requirements of a Judge

Rather than being concerned with the chromosomal makeup of Supreme Court judges, it would be far wiser to take a good look at their philosophical and ideological views by reviewing their judicial history prior to their appointment to the Bench. Such appointments should be based on merit so that only individuals who are seen to possess the characteristics of integrity, experienced balanced judgement and a willingness to be impartial are appointed.

The present procedure by which the Prime Minister alone has the privilege of selecting judges is outdated and must be changed. At the very least, a public review, by way of a confirmation hearing carried out by a joint Parliamentary Committee of the Senate and House of Commons should be put in place.

Please write to Prime Minister Chrétien and Justice Minister Anne McLellan, letting them know you do not want to have an ideologically driven feminist to be appointed to the Bench to replace Mr. Justice Cory.

Their addresses are as follows:

The Right Honourable John Chrétien

Office of the Prime Minister

80 Wellington Street, 2nd Floor

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2

(613) 941-6900

The Hon. Anne McLellan

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Justice Building

239 Wellington Street

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8

Fax: (613) 990-7255

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