Judge who took law-school job broke rules but won’t be sanctioned

TORONTO — A respected Ontario Superior Court justice broke the rules by accepting a temporary dean’s posting at an Indigenous law school but does not deserve to lose his job, a review concluded Tuesday.

The review, which had sparked an intense and ongoing backlash, found that Justice Patrick Smith might have been well intentioned but should nevertheless have refused to become interim dean at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

“This is not a case involving bad behaviour or improper motives,” the panel of the Canadian Judicial Council concluded. “Justice Smith was motivated by a genuine desire to use his skills, background and experience to help the faculty in a time of crisis.”

According to the panel, Smith violated Section 55 of the Judges Act. Among other things, the act requires judges to devote themselves exclusively to their judicial duties and to avoid involvement in any controversy or public debate that could expose them to political attack.

Following the panel’s findings, it was left to the chair of the council’s conduct committee, Quebec’s Associate Chief Justice Robert Pidgeon, to decide on next steps. Pidgeon said he agreed with the panel and, given that Smith had already resigned from the dean’s post, the council needed to take no further action against him.

Smith had no comment on Tuesday but his lawyer, Brian Gover, expressed dismay the council had rendered its decision despite the judge’s request to Federal Court to review the matter. The council, Gover said, should have waited for the court review, which is likely to be heard early next year.

“We expect to proceed with the application for judicial review and our motion for the production of the CJC’s entire (Smith) file,” said Gover, who called the council process “completely unsatisfactory.”

Gover had previously said the legal community was in shock at the CJC’s review and called the decision to go ahead with the investigation without a complaint a “strange irregularity.”

Norman Sabourin, executive director of the council, said he stood by his decision to launch the probe. Sabourin said council is obligated to act whenever judicial misconduct is suspected.