Judge defends role in advocacy group
Founder of Federation of Black Canadians accused of perjury in 2018 hearing
Ontario court judge Donald McLeod described for a disciplinary panel Monday how his impoverished background led to his long history of advocacy for the voiceless and steps he’s taken to ensure that work falls within the bounds of what’s expected of him as a judge.
“I don’t have the luxury of just being a judge,” he said under questioning from one of his lawyers, Faisal Mirza, during the proceeding carried live on YouTube.
“Everyone is mindful of the fact that I’m a judge,” he said minutes later, recounting how rising gun violence and the fatal shooting of a pregnant black woman, led him to found the Federation of Black Canadians (FBC). “Everyone is mindful of the fact that … there is a square that we can work within and we’re not going to be able to go that much further outside of it.”
McLeod, the only Black judge to sit in the Brampton courthouse, is facing his second disciplinary hearing over allegations that he conducted himself in a manner “incompatible with the execution of the duties of his office” in his leadership role with the Federation of Black Canadians, a non-profit group he founded.
The first disciplinary panel cleared him in December 2018. But McLeod found himself in trouble again six months later facing new, more serious accusations including lying to the previous panel about his involvement on contentious and political issues with the FBC.
Among the allegations are that McLeod counselled two young delegates attending a National Black Summit not to speak publicly about a racist incident on Parliament Hill on Feb. 4, 2019, which the OJC alleges “could be perceived as providing legal advice” and furthering the advocacy of FBC.
McLeod revealed for the first time Monday that he was among the people racially profiled that day, which he said left delegates “incensed” and traumatized. When an FBC colleague asked him to speak on the phone to some of the young people who were preparing to hold a press conference about what happened, McLeod agreed to try “to calm the waters.”
“In your mind, what capacity were you offering advice?” Mirza asked.
“Person-to-person, not in a legal way,” McLeod responded. He said he told the young Nova Scotian activists to be careful when dealing with the media — something he learned how to do during his time as a defence lawyer on high-profile cases.
After the phone call with the activists, McLeod was taken aback when he read in a blog post by activist and author Desmond Cole, who alleged the judge had attempted to threaten and silence the young people.
“Nothing could be further from the truth and it is … a shame that it takes me all of this time to be able to say that,” McLeod said Monday. He added that his role as a judge has prevented him from responding and correcting many “falsehoods” about him.
McLeod has been under suspension since the summer of 2019 when he first received a letter notifying him about the new allegations.
That notice stated it was possible the police could be called to investigate whether he committed perjury during the first hearing.
“In all of my life I’ve never heard those words uttered to me,” McLeod said. “It was difficult, at best, it was difficult.” No referral to a police agency was ever made.
Mirza asked McLeod to describe his background so the panel would have a better understanding of who he is and his advocacy work.
McLeod testified he was raised in a single-mother household and lived in subsidized housing for 26 years, including when he was an articling student.
“Those of us who come from (social) housing we know … (our) voices are not necessarily heard. People don’t really know us, remember us or even think about us.”
Growing up in that environment, “maybe at times that makes me relentless about making sure that we can do our best within the bounds of what we’re allowed to do,” he said.
“I was never controversial, never a renegade … I was just somebody who worked hard knowing that it was important for us to go back and help everybody else out.”
Throughout his legal career, McLeod had mentors and said he’s now in a position to “pay it back.” McLeod was appointed to the bench in 2013.
He also testified about the personal impact on him and his family of facing two disciplinary hearings, including sleepless nights, being told he might not be able to get a mortgage.
The professional consequence has also been significant. Judges, who were friends before, have been “afraid to pick up the phone and call me because they don’t know what impact will be on their own career.”
McLeod said after the last disciplinary panel set out what are “appropriate protocols … with respect to what a judge can do,” he took steps to ensure he wasn’t offside.
So, for example, when he was preparing a motivational speech on Parliament Hill at the National Black Summit — excerpts of which were played for the panel — he looked at speeches by former Supreme Court of Canada judges to ensure he conformed with what he could and could not say.
“I used those to inform the speeches that I put together,” he said. “I felt it was important to sort of see what my colleagues … have done, and to see what, if any, repercussions they got as a result of things that they said.”
The OJC panel has the power to suspend, discipline or recommend McLeod be fired.
The hearing continues Tuesday.