The Dean of Law at the University of Windsor, Chris Waters, is happy with what he sees in the federal government’s move to change how Supreme Court judges are named to the bench.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday an independent, non-partisan panel headed by former Prime Minister Kim Campbell will recommend appointees to the highest court in the land instead of the prime minister calling the shots.
Waters says the new panel isn’t an indictment of the current bench but was a much-needed change.
“Don’t get me wrong, there are some really excellent judges on the Supreme Court of Canada, but there have undoubtedly been factors that have gone into the decision making about who should be on the court which have been political,” says Waters.
He feels the change will see greater diversity on the Supreme Court.
“I think there was a touch of cronyism up to now in terms of who gets on the bench and so I think it does allow lawyers and judges to aspire to becoming a Supreme Court judge,” says Waters. “The people we have on the court are certainly people of high integrity and great experience. I think we can do even better, and I’m hopeful this new process will help us get there.”
While there’s nothing in law that can hold future governments to the recommendations of the panel, Waters doesn’t think it will be easy for governments to scrap the process and go back to the old way of doing things.
“Ideally, this kind of process would get enshrined in legislation — the Supreme Court of Canada Act — but even if it isn’t I think it’s politically costly now to go back and close the door on transparency,” says Waters. “Once you’ve opened up the door to transparency and non-partisanship, I think it’s going to be politically difficult for any government to go back to the closed door approach.”
Waters adds while he approves of the change, he wouldn’t want to see Canada go in the direction of American-style high court appointments.
The new process will allow any Canadian lawyer or judge who fits the criteria to apply and also gives members of Parliament an opportunity to “directly engage with the nominee” before being appointed.