Blessed be the deans of law for they shall appear in court without their briefs. H/T Unknown, aka Elegant. +

Patricia Hughes, the current dean of law at the University of Calgary, termed it unfortunate that the list had got out.

"I would not like to see this become the norm, that we start throwing out names publicly," said Hughes.

'Are we trying to say it's a sort of election? I don't find it to be a very elegant way to select a member of the top court of Canada." +
cnews

whats patricia's problem. is she and her elite band of jurors above the rest of use lowly mortals or are there to many skeltons in the closet. as far as the ndp are concerned they know they will never be in the position to make those or any other kinds of decisions. they will just continue to bleat.

We'll put Patricia Hughes down as "Pro-Secrecy". However inelegant she may find transparency it pales in comparison to the "Zap! You've Got A New SCOC Justice!" schtick. Anyone who uses the phrase "American-style" needs to be mocked and ridiculed savagely.

The "list" always gets out. Who let it out this time? Cotler? Ask Rosemary Thompson (CTV)? I think it's pretty "elegant" since we get to see three very talented people who are being considered by the PM. One is a friend and I hope that candidate is selected, but the other two are fine.

People who think they can snap their fingers and Mr. Harper can remake reality to their liking are bound to be disappointed. But under the hood, he's started doing some interesting things.

He's challenging the supremacy of the lawyer-elite (recall that he's not a millionaire lawyer from Quebec with close ties to the Demaris family), and that's a Herculean task in its own right.

And yesterday, Mr. Harper changed the Clerk of the Privy Council Office from Mr. Alex Himmelfarb, Liberal sociologist, to Mr. Kevin G. Lynch, fiscally conservative economist. Depending on how you score it, the Clerk of the PCO and the Prime Minister are the first and second or second and first most important jobs in the government of Canada.

Personally, I think the change in the head of the permanent civil service at the PCO is more important than anything else since the election, including the cabinet selections. But I don't expect anyone to agree with me, and I won't swear at you if you do.

I like what Harper is doing here. The rookie is doing alright.

As long as there is injustice, there is no justice. Anon. +

David Asper testifies Canadian justice system was the enemy in Milgaard case
By TIM COOK

SASKATOON (CP) - Overturning David Milgaard's wrongful murder conviction was a "war of liberation," with the Canadian justice system as the enemy, his former lawyer testified Wednesday.

And David Asper said that, as in any war, he had to identify the "bad guys" and rally support to the cause.

"It was pretty much us against everyone," Asper testified at the inquiry into Milgaard's wrongful conviction.

"I do believe in democracy, and I do believe in the power of the people, and I do believe that if we took our case and said it loud enough and yelled it loud enough, and enough times, that we would prevail."

Milgaard spent 23 years in prison for the 1969 rape and murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller before his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1992 after two appeals to the federal justice minister for review. +
canoenews

injusticebusters 2005 > > 36 years later: Milgaard Inquiry is ...
DNA tests later proved that the semen at the crime scene didn't belong to Mr. Milgaard. A jury found Mr. Fisher guilty of the crime in 1999. ...
www.injusticebusters.com/05/Milgaard_Inquiry1.shtml - 67k -

Hey Vitruvius. Here's an observation from Norman Spector about Lynch:

There is a story that made its way around the Finance Department about Mr. Lynch holding a meeting among his staff about how to balance work and home life. The meeting, goes the story, took place on a Sunday.

In regard to Milgaard.... they want him to appear before a court....again! FFS, let the man alone to get on with the life (what's left of it) that was ruined by the legal system. I say legal, as "justice" is a very rare commodity in this country of late, it seems.

As for Pat.... seems Audrey is also a "pro secrecy" type. I dunno about others, but that makes me verrry nervous. Whats up with "yappy jack"? Someone feed him some alum lately? Not a peep from him, or not that I've been able to hear about.

Good to see Diane on the committee. Ex-lawyer I think. Seen her in action...I'm sure she'll ask some tough questions! :)

Yes, I read that in the paper today Andy. I don't see how that anecdote it relevant to Mr. Harper's attempts to restructure parts of the government. Just because the press found something to say in spite of the fact that they didn't have anything useful or informative to say doesn't mean you have to fall for it.

Milgaard better damned well testify - the inquiry is taking place because "the family" demanded one. If he didn't want to be part of it, he might have picked up the phone and said something to Mom before millions were wasted on the fiasco.

Hey Kate,

You're right (at least I think you are) about Milgaard. This is his freaking inquiry! You'd think he might have a few comments about what happened. I'm not sure he's the shining knight that we've been led to believe. Let him show up and be cross examined and we'll see what we see. The "family" may also want to testify.

I was having a coffee this a.m. and was watching Canada A.M. The group was discussing Mr Harpers approach to vetting a supreme court judge. The young man bemoaned the electoral signs he had seen in the U.S.A. and stated he hoped it wouldnt happen here (in Canada). I wanted to ask him if he had any idea what our system was vs the rest of the western world. Silly question because he obviously didnt have a clew. I only bring up this spectacle because it illustrates how very little Canadians know about governance in our Nation.
The question I have is: if most Canadians don't trust Lawyers ( I can understand why) how can they possibly trust Lawyers appointed to judgeships by mostly corrupt Prime Ministers? oh what a wonderful world!

Melwilde "The question I have is: if most Canadians don't trust Lawyers ( I can understand why) how can they possibly trust Lawyers appointed to judgeships by mostly corrupt Prime Ministers? oh what a wonderful world!"

Our democracy is based on 19th century communications and transportation technology. You don't know what's going on in the seat of power so you send a representative over. Over the years distances have shrunk and communications have improved to the point where some of us are wondering why we need the representative in the first place because we're increasingly in a position to make up our own minds.

Put the prospects up on a blog and have them fight for the job on cyberspace.

Have any of you scandal hungry right wing bloggers tried using modern lie detection technology on your targets?

http://www.gizmag.co.uk/search/lie%20detector/

If the claims are real then its only a matter of time before people start using this stuff. What happens in a world where millions of people have highly accurate lie detection software that can detect lies just by analyzing a high quality video/audio recording?

I agree with Harper, in that, it's a judges job to apply the laws that are passed by Parliament, not to try to modify the laws to suit the judiciary's particular personal viewpoint. Vetting a candidate for the SC in a somewhat public manner is only a small baby step towards reform of the entire judicial system in this country.

I'd be interested in seeing how "other western" democracies fill their surpreme courts, aside from the perennial boogie man country south of us...
I cannot imagine all the western democracies not having a clue as to the stance prospective judges have on certain topics.
This step Mr. Harper has taken, is so long overdue.

I would have enjoyed hearing ex-PMPM defending someone like Rosalie Abella, before she was awarded.

Jose,

"Have any of you scandal hungry right wing bloggers tried using modern lie detection technology on your targets?

If the claims are real then its only a matter of time before people start using this stuff. What happens in a world where millions of people have highly accurate lie detection software that can detect lies just by analyzing a high quality video/audio recording?"

It won't help in detecting the delusion.

Make that "delusional".

Speaking of increasing transparency a few people are blogging the WIPO.

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004434.php

It's an interesting idea. It suggests that in the future we're going to see more and more high level meetings reprinted on the blogosphere. What's next videopodcasts of WTO meetings?

I don't see how the NDP opposing open selection in any way goes against their principles?

Since when does any socialist/communist party not favour, in practice vs. rhetoric, a top down authoritarian model that gives "the people" what they should need, rather than what they might want - or heaven forfend - a real choice.

Does anybody seriously think that we'd have the current, oh to name two aspects of trudeaupia, immigration policy or supreme court line up, if Canadians had had more than "very distant highly filtered choice"?

Right. Sure we would.

I can see the dipper whining is based more in their tantrums of not having over generous proportional representation on the committee. ;-)

All this hullabaloo over SCC is just that. The committee can't veto an app't only the Prime Minister has that power. Are we heading towards an American style Parliment?? Only if we let them. You and I have nothing to gain from this show because that's all it is it's a show and a test. This is to see if we're ready to be absorbed into an American style of politics which does not have any basis in true democracy. America is egocentric. They do not give a damn about the people of Canada.

All this hullabaloo over SCC is just that. The committee can't veto an app't only the Prime Minister has that power. Are we heading towards an American style Parliment?? Only if we let them. You and I have nothing to gain from this show because that's all it is it's a show and a test. This is to see if we're ready to be absorbed into an American style of politics which does not have any basis in true democracy. America is egocentric. They do not give a damn about the people of Canada.

All this hullabaloo over SCC is just that. The committee can't veto an app't only the Prime Minister has that power. Are we heading towards an American style Parliment?? Only if we let them. You and I have nothing to gain from this show because that's all it is it's a show and a test. This is to see if we're ready to be absorbed into an American style of politics which does not have any basis in true democracy. America is egocentric. They do not give a damn about the people of Canada.

Did anyone watch 'acting-deputy-dawg' graham responding to reporters questions yesterday (Thursday Feb 23/06)? Seems parliament (a Liberal one) voted to have the SCC override the House (and the peoples' voice) and allow the un-elected "judicial party of canada" (jpc) determine when the "charter of wrongs" would override legislation and that the judges would be the final arbitrators...Rights are Rights and not open to arbitration (in theory). The spectre of the "ghost of pet" continues to cloud our great land!!

Did they ever name that mountain after him? They should just add two more faces on Mt. Rushmore....HIS!