More urgent issues than judge picking
Re A better way to pick judges, Editorial Aug. 3 One of the failings of our democracy is the pervasive use of process by politicians so that they appear to be doing something while often achieving little or nothing. The hue and cry over how judges are appointed to the Supreme Court is the latest example.
No one has suggested that the sitting justices are doing a poor job, or that any justices in history have been inadequate to the task. Quite the opposite, the court has carried out its duties admirably.
But that is not what our public leaders are complaining about. They want more process, involving more politicians, of course, to demonstrate that they are doing something about selecting judges. They want more process, apparently simply to have more process.
We have major issues in Canada, such as anything and everything to do with our aboriginal population, climate change and the widely skewed distribution of wealth. Issues like these are far more worthy of the time and attention of our public leaders than creating a judicial bandwagon for them to jump on. David Kister, Toronto
If this new committee does its job well, then the prime minster should be required to choose randomly from the candidates pre- sented to him. If it does not do a good job, then it should be abolished.
The prime minister is more likely than any other Canadian to have business before the Supreme Court and therefore more likely than anyone else to give rise to a perception that appointees might subconsciously favour the person who appointed them. Random selection from a pool of qualified, properly vetted candidates obviates this problem. Patrick Cowan, North York
There may not have been “room at the inn,” but there always is at the political trough. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces that Kim Campbell, Canada’s most repudiated politician, will chair an advisory board to initiate a new process to select Supreme Court of Canada justices.
Kim Campbell? There is no justice. Donald W. Cofell, Stirling, Ont.