Liberals criticized over judicial appointments transparency

NO BREAKDOWN

DOUGLAS QUAN AND MARIE-DANIELLE SMITH After promising to bring more transparency to the way it appoints judges in this country, the Liberal government is being accused of doing the opposite.

New federal data show that there were 74 superior court appointments across the country over the past year — split evenly between men and women. Three were Indigenous and nine were visible minorities.

During that period, a total of 441 candidates were screened by government advisory committees with 129 classified as “highly recommended,” 82 as “recommended” and 230 as “unable to recommend.”

However, on Monday, neither the agency that compiled the data, the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada, nor the office of Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, would provide a breakdown showing how many of the 74 appointees were drawn from the “highly recommended” pool of candidates versus the “recommended” group.

The Globe and Mail reported that “a number” of judges were drawn from the second tier of candidates.

Murray Rankin, the NDP justice critic, said he doesn’t understand why the Liberals can’t provide more aggregate data.

“I’m not entirely sure why we couldn’t know, why we’re many important considerations, in exercising my prerogative to appoint the best candidates to the judiciary.”

An official from her office would not confirm whether judges were indeed drawn from the “recommended” pool of candidates. But the official said a prospective judge’s expertise might be one reason why someone would be drawn from one