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CHIEF JUSTICE MCLACHLIN AS PREDICTABLE AS CLOCKWORK

As regular as a mechanical clock, every time the Supreme Court of Canada hands down a controversial decision, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin emerges from behind the machinery of the court to announce to the public that her court is not a judicially active one. Instead, she implies, the court is just misunderstood by the slow-witted public!

Predictably, almost a month to the day after the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its decision on the reference questions on same-sex marriage, Judge McLachlin emerged to tell us how wrong we all are to interpret her court's decisions as judicial activism. She stated, that the court does not play a political role, nor is it partisan. We wish. We are supposed to ignore the fact that the court decreed in the same-sex marriage reference that our constitution was not "frozen", but instead was a "living tree" which, by "progressive interpretation, accommodates and addresses the realities of modern life" and that "A large and liberal or progressive interpretation ensures the continued relevance and, indeed, legitimacy of Canada's constituting documents". The "living tree" concept for our constitution suits the court perfectly, because who is to add the progressive and liberal branches onto this "living tree" of our constitution, but the appointed judges, in accordance with their own personal perspectives?

Judge McLachlin used one of her customary courtiers to broadcast her news, namely, reporter Kirk Makin from The Globe & Mail (front page news!), January 8, 2005, who embellished her soliloquy with statements from left-wing law school professors. Heaven forbid that her public comments should be marred by anyone giving them any critical appraisal. Since her performance is a public relations exercise, only for propaganda purposes, there is no requirement for accuracy. The Globe & Mail and its reporter Kirk Makin were only too happy to promote McLachlin's case, since her court's decisions fit right into the "large, liberal and progressive" view of The Globe & Mail newspaper.

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