Wagner would not deny that other people must be scrutinized and corrected. It’s what he and his colleagues do, albeit with increasing languor, from on high. Way up high. As Woodfinden complained, “A bronze likeness of the sitting chief justice now stands in the Supreme Court’s entrance, paid for by a donor the court won’t…
When Roy Romanow was premier of Saskatchewan, he had a saying that can be paraphrased: when observers or commentators offer political statements or opinions, they are in my bailiwick and I shall be free to respond as I see fit. Read More
And the appearance problem is not new. Lawyers raised it in 2022, in a complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council, the body that oversees the conduct of federally appointed judges, which Wagner himself chairs. The Council dismissed it, reasoning that with no Emergencies Act case yet before the court, the worry was merely hypothetical. Well,…
“Chief justices in Canada, in every province, and the chief justice of Canada have a responsibility, not an obligation, but a responsibility to speak out about any attempts on judicial independence, attacks on independence, or the rule of law… or any events that could jeopardize the justice system,” Wagner said.