Rowe displays passion for aboriginal rights
Supreme Court nominee fields panel’s queries
OTTAWA • The politicians, dignitaries and spectators settled in quickly. The pulse of the room picked up as the star witness took his seat at the head of the grand hall.
Malcolm Rowe, the Supreme Court of Canada’s newly nominated justice, gazed out calmly Tuesday at his parliamentary interrogators. As a condition of employment, he was about to submit to questioning by an ad hoc all-party committee of parliamentarians at the University of Ottawa.
Before Rowe said a word, the crowd and live television cameras got their first look at the 63-year-old and his full head of red hair, flowing down the back of his neck in a wave cresting over his collar, the distinct panache of an aging baby boomer.
Eleven seconds into his introductory remarks, Rowe, in a pronounced Newfoundland accent, began speaking effectively in French, another condition for winning the job.
For nearly 90 minutes, he submitted to 26 mostly genteel questions. Bloc Québécois member Rhéal Fortin complimented his spoken French, as “quite effective and functional.”
In the end, Rowe presented himself as genuine, modest and with a deep regard for the country. He spoke passionately about the social and legal struggle for aboriginal and treaty rights.
“There’s an interesting relationship between the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, and governments and indigenous leadership, in terms of how much the court says and when it says it,” he said.
“It would be unwise for the court to get out ahead of a process which I truly hope will be a process of reconciliation, which will come from nation-to-nation dealings. In a sense, the court should stand a little apart from that, always bearing in mind if a First Nation or some group of indigenous persons wish to vindicate their rights before the court, they have a right to be heard and to receive a remedy where warranted.”
Here are some other highlights:
In his job application, now posted online, Rowe raised eyebrows by saying one role of the high court is to make definitive statements on the law, “rather than simply applying it.”
On Tuesday, he clarified he was referring to constitutional law, not criminal law or statutory law, where the court must act “not contrary to Parliament but with purposes of giving effect to the will of Parliament.”
But, “under the Charter, certain rights, collective and individual, are given to Canadians and in that sense there’s a limitation on the authority of governments. And from time to time where it is found that there’s an infringement of those rights, it is the duty of the courts to craft a remedy to protect the rights of Canadians. On occasion, it may be to strike down a law or to modify it.”
Court remedies to protect minority language rights “may require the expenditure of public funds, which is a very unusual thing for the courts to do, to order a government to spend money. But if you’re going to have minority language rights, you have to have schools, then at some point if a province doesn’t build the schools, you’ve got to say, ‘You are ordered to build a school.’ ”
Rowe talked about his appreciation for the country, especially the North. Since 2002, he has been active with Action Canada, a leadership development program for young adults from varied backgrounds.
“Over the years I’ve come to know our country well, in its regions and its diversity of peoples.
“All the members of the Supreme Court of Canada must speak for the country. If you’re from Quebec, you must be mindful of British Columbia. If you’re from the Prairies, you must be mindful of the North. (This) is a common undertaking, but to do so effectively, it helps to have voices from across the country to give a sense of the wholeness of the country and its components.”