Uncategorized – Page 4 – Democracy Watch

To become a federally appointed judge, a person must either be a lawyer for 10 years or a lawyer and quasi-judicial tribunal member for a combined total of 10 years (See s. 3 of the Judges Act, and ss. 5.2 and 5.3 of the Federal Courts Act). There are Judicial Advisory Committees for each province and territory that review applications and recommend long lists of qualified candidates to the Minister of Justice.

The problems with the federal judicial appointments system that the case challenges are longstanding, and have been raised in the past, (see also here and here and here, and also all the evidence linked in Democracy Watch’s December 2020 affidavit, and most provinces have the same problems with their appointment system), as follows:

Canada’s federal judicial appointment system is just a self-enforced policy of the federal government that can be changed at any time. In contrast, in the UK and in most provinces the appointment system is enshrined in law so that a Cabinet can’t change it without introducing a public bill that is debated by the legislature and the public.
The Minister of Justice and Cabinet appoint a majority of the seven members of each Judicial Advisory Committee. They appoint:
1. three of the members directly;
2. one from a list of nominees submitted by the Law Society of the province/territory;
3. one from a list of nominees submitted by the provincial or territorial chapter of the Canadian Bar Association;
4. one from a list of nominees submitted by the jurisdiction’s Attorney General, and;
5. then the chief judge of the jurisdiction chooses the last member of each committee.

In contrast, Cabinet ministers in Manitoba (s. 3.3) and B.C. (s. 21) choose a minority of the members of the advisory committee for their provincial courts. Ideally, the Cabinet should not choose any of the members of the committees. The federal Minister alone chooses to promote sitting judges to appeal courts. Ideally, a fully independent committee should be recommending a short list of 1-3 sitting judges as candidates for promotion to appeal courts.

The federal judicial advisory committees are appointed by the Minister and Cabinet to renewable two-year terms. Ideally, even if the Minister and Cabinet members are removed from appointing any of the committee members (as recommended above in #2) the terms should not be renewable, to ensure regular turnover of committee members.
Each committee submits a long list of candidates, which gives the Minister a lot of leeway to appoint whomever s/he wants. Ideally, the committees should submit only 1-3 candidates for each open judge position, with the minister required to choose from that short list, as in Quebec and the UK (and in the UK, where the committee only submits one candidate, the minister must explain in writing to the committee if s/he rejects the recommended candidate).
Before making the final choice, the Minister shares each list of candidates with Cabinet ministers and MPs, and also party officials, from the province or territory. Ideally, the Minister should be prohibited from sharing the list with anyone.

Background on Key Problems that Make the
Federal Judicial Appointments System Too Political
(December 2021)

Canada’s federal judicial appointment system is just a self-enforced policy of the federal government that can be changed at any time. In contrast, in the UK and in most provinces the appointment system is enshrined in law so that a Cabinet can’t change it without introducing a public bill that is debated by the legislature and the public.
The Minister of Justice and Cabinet appoint a majority of the seven members of each Judicial Advisory Committee. They appoint:
1. three of the members directly;
2. one from a list of nominees submitted by the Law Society of the province/territory;
3. one from a list of nominees submitted by the provincial or territorial chapter of the Canadian Bar Association;
4. one from a list of nominees submitted by the jurisdiction’s Attorney General, and;
5. then the chief judge of the jurisdiction chooses the last member of each committee.

The federal judicial advisory committees are appointed by the Minister and Cabinet to renewable two-year terms. Ideally, even if the Minister and Cabinet members are removed from appointing any of the committee members (as recommended above in #2) the terms should not be renewable, to ensure regular turnover of committee members.
Each committee submits a long list of candidates, which gives the Minister a lot of leeway to appoint whomever s/he wants. Ideally, the committees should submit only 1-3 candidates for each open judge position, with the minister required to choose from that short list, as in Quebec and the UK (and in the UK, where the committee only submits one candidate, the minister must explain in writing to the committee if s/he rejects the recommended candidate).
Before making the final choice, the Minister shares each list of candidates with Cabinet ministers and MPs, and also party officials, from the province or territory. Ideally, the Minister should be prohibited from sharing the list with anyone.

BACKGROUNDER

Posted on novembre 14, 2021janvier 11, 2026 by Bradford

Backgrounder on 4 Errors Made by federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion in his ruling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s participation in approving the WE Charity grant in spring 2020

(November 10, 2021)

Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion’s May 2021 ruling on Prime Minister Trudeau’s participation in the WE Charity grant approval process made four key errors in letting Trudeau off even though Trudeau clearly violated the federal government ethics law.

The Ethics Commissioner concluded that, because PM Trudeau’s spouse volunteers as an ambassador and champion for WE Charity, including hosting a podcast for it, and his mother and brother have been paid large sums to give speeches for the charity, and the PM has also appeared at several WE events, there was “a strong appearance of conflict between the Trudeau family’s relationship with WE and Mr. Trudeau’s duty to make decisions that best serve the public interest.” (paragraphs 248-250).

Trudeau has said he should have recused himself, and Ethics Commissioner Dion says at the end of his ruling that “it is always advisable to recuse oneself and inform the Commissioner promptly when facing an apparent conflict of interest” (paragraph 269). Why? Because it is clearly improper to take part in a decision when in an apparent conflict.

Failure to rule that Trudeau had a real conflict of interest

However, the Ethics Commissioner’s ruling first claims, wrongly, that Trudeau was not in a real or potential conflict of interest. Democracy Watch’s position is that, because of the extensive, direct and ongoing family ties between the Trudeau family and WE, especially the fact that his spouse is a WE ambassador and podcaster, the PM was clearly in a potential conflict of interest when WE Charity began engaging with the government about the grant, and then in a real conflict of interest as soon as WE Charity engaged with Cabinet and the PMO.

In the Trudeau II Report about the SNC-Lavalin scandal involving the Prime Minister and other top government officials, Commissioner Dion defined “private interests” as including “financial, social or political interests (paragraphs 288 to 292). In his ruling on the WE Charity grant, he concluded that the grant definitely benefited WE’s private interests but ignored the fact that the grant would very likely, by helping WE financially and deepening the relationship between WE and the PM’s government and family, also benefit the social interests of his WE-ambassador spouse and his family members who spoke at WE events, and the PM’s political interests as WE would have continued to promote the PM as it has for more than a decade (paragraphs 233-238 and 243-244).

Failure to rule that Conflict of Interest Act covers apparent conflicts of interest

Secondly, the Ethics Commissioner’s ruling claims, wrongly, that being in an appearance of a conflict of interest is not a violation of the federal Conflict of Interest Act (CofI Act), and that only being in a real or potential conflict of interest is (paragraphs 252-268).

This part of the ruling is wrong because the purpose of the CofI Act is to prevent all “conflicts of interest” whether real, apparent or potential (subsections 3(b) and (c)), and the Act prohibits federal politicians and government officials from participating in specific decisions like handing out grants and contracts when they are “in a conflict of interest” (sections 4 and 6) which includes any type of conflict of interest, real, apparent or potential (as the Federal Court of Appeal ruled unanimously in 2009 (para. 49)).

Failure to rule that Trudeau and Keilburger borthers, who head up WE Charity, are friends

Thirdly, the CofI Act prohibits politicians furthering not only their own interests but also “those of his or her relatives or friends or to improperly further another person’s private interests” (sections 4 and 6). As mentioned above, the WE Charity grant could benefit Trudeau and his relatives’ interests. In addition, the Ethics Commissioner ignored evidence that Trudeau and his spouse are friends of the Kielburger brothers who head up WE. Craig Keilburger described Trudeau as a friend in a November 2015 interview with the Ottawa Citizen. At the same time at the WE event where he gave his first speech as Prime Minister, Trudeau describe both Craig and his brother Marc as friends. Given this, and that the ties between the families have only increased since then, again including that Trudeau’s spouse is a WE Ambassador, the Ethics Commissioner was wrong to conclude that that they are not friends (paragraphs 239 to 241 of his ruling).

Failure to find that Trudeau acted improperly, which is a violation of the Act

Fourthly, Commissioner Dion’s ruling ignores the real meaning of the second part of section 4 of the CofI Act that prohibits taking part in a decision if it offers an opportunity to “improperly further” another person’s or entity’s interests. That is a very broad prohibition, as the Commissioner himself concluded in the Trudeau II Report on the SNC-Lavalin scandal (paragraphs 286 and 296-301). According to the Commissioner, “improper” includes a violation of any of the PM’s Code rules, and that Code’s Annex B rule prohibits the PM and ministers from being in an appearance of conflict of interest.

Again Trudeau has said he should have recused himself, and Ethics Commissioner Dion says at the end of his ruling that “it is always advisable to recuse oneself and inform the Commissioner promptly when facing an apparent conflict of interest” (paragraph 269). Why? Because it is clearly improper to take part in a decision when in an apparent conflict.

List of SenatorsList of Senators

Posted on octobre 18, 2021mai 25, 2025 by Bradford

List of Senators Who Hold or Have Recently Held Business/Organization Board Positions and/or Employee Positions and/or Who Have Stock Market Investments

(according to the senators’ most recent disclosures in the Senate’s Public Registry)

NOTE 1: In Democracy Watch’s opinion, the most serious conflicts with a senator’s work duties and duty to uphold the public interest are caused by working for, or being on the board of, a private company (especially investment firms) or organization that is federally regulated or affected by federal spending, taxes, subsidies or other programs and/or having stock market investments or mutual fund investments in companies that are federally regulated. Working for, or being on the board of, a company or organization that is provincially regulated can also cause conflicts, as can having stock market or mutual fund investments in companies that are provincially regulated.

NOTE 2: Senators are required to disclose publicly whether they have stock market investments (i.e. investments in “publicly traded securities”) or mutual fund investments, but are not required to disclose which companies they are invested in. In contrast, U.S. senators are required to disclose details of their stock market and mutual fund investments, and changes to those investments, worth more than $1,000.

NOTE 3: Eight senators appointed in June and July 2021 have not yet made their first disclosure of their business/organization work and board positions, investments, assets and liabilities. These senators are as follows: David M. Arnot, Michèle Audette, Bernadette Clement, Amina Gerba, Clément Gignac, Jim Quinn, Karen Sorenson and Hassan Yussuff.

Denise Batters – has stock market investments

Douglas Black – works for Dentons Canada LLP, works for Clearspring Capital Partners, and has stock market investments

Patricia Bovey – has a consultancy, has stock market investments

Larry Campbell – was board member of Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (up to June 1, 2021)

Claude Carignan – practises law; has stock market investments

Daniel Christmas – has stock market investments

Jane Cordy – has stock market investments

Brent Cotter – has consultancy

Mary Coyle – has stock market investments

Pierre J. Dalphond – practises law, has stock market investments

Donna Dasko – has stock market investments

Dennis Dawson – has stock market investments

Colin Deacon – has stock market investments

Marty Deacon – on several organization boards, has stock market investments

Tony Dean – has stock market investments

Pat Duncan – has mutual fund investments

Renée Dupuis – has mutual fund investments

Éric Forest – has stock market investments

Josée Forest-Niesing – has stock market investments

Brian Francis – has stock market investments

George Furey – has stock market investments

Raymonde Gagné – has stock market investments

Rosa Galvez – has mutual fund investments

Marc Gold – on several organization boards, has stock market investments

Stephen Greene – has mutual fund investments

Diane Griffin – on a few organization boards, has stock market investments

Peter Harder – on board of Magna International Inc., has stock market investments

Nancy Hartling – has mutual fund investments

Leo Housakos – has stock market investments

Mobina Jaffer – partner in a law firm, on board and owns shares in three property corporations and a poultry farm

Marty Klyne – on board of FHQ Developments, has stock market investments

Stan Kutcher – has stock market investments

Patti LaBoucane-Benson – consultant, board member of House of Anansi Press, has mutual fund investments

Frances Lankin – has mutual fund investments

Tony Loffreda – has stock market investments

Michael L. MacDonald – has mutual fund investments

Elizabeth Marshall – has stock market investments

Yonah Martin – board member of several organizations

Sarabjit Marwah – on board of Cineplex Inc. and George Weston Ltd., and has stock market investments

Paul Massicotte – board member of several private investment firms, has several private investments

Marilou McPhedran – board member of one organization, has mutual fund investments

Marie Françoise Mégie – board member of a business and two organizations, has stock market investments

Terry Mercer – has mutual fund investments

Julie Miville-Dechêne – has mutual fund investments

Rosemary Moodie – practicing medicine, board member of three organizations, has mutual fund investments

Victor Oh – honourary positions with 16 organizations

Ratna Omidvar – board member of several organizations, has stock market investments

Kim Pate – adjunct law professor, member of organization advisory committee, has mutual fund investments

Dennis Glen Patterson – board member of Nunatta Environmental Services Inc., has stock market investments

Chantal Petitclerc – board member and works for Chantal Petitclerc Inc., board member of several organizations, including a new one in June 2020 and another new one in June 2020, has mutual fund investments

Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia – has private company and stock market investments

Raymonde Saint-Germain – has stock market investments

Judith G. Seidman – board member of a consultancy, has stock market investments

Paula Simons – has mutual fund investments

Larry W. Smith – works for and board member of consultancy, has stock market investments

Scott Tannas – works for Western Financial Group Inc. (insurance company), board member of nine private companies and one organization, has stock market investments

Josée Verner – has mutual fund investments

Pamela Wallin – board member of two organizations, has stock market investments

David M. Wells – board member and works with consultancy, part owner of Battery Management Corp., has private investments and stock market investments

Howard Wetston – member of Toronto Hydro Corporation Board of Directors and Westcourt Capital Corporation Advisory Board, member of three organizations (including as Senior Fellow of C.D. Howe Institute), has stock market investments

Vernon White – has consultancy, adjunct professor at three universities, Fellow at Australian Strategic Policy Institute, external advisor to Fabriik (crypto-currency trading company), board member of eight organizations

Yuen Pau Woo – Senior Resident Fellow, Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Business Studies (at Beedie School of Business Simon Fraser University), board member of 10 organizations, has mutual fund investments

List of Senators Who Hold or Have Recently Held Business/Organization Board Positions and/or Employee Positions and/or Who Have Stock Market Investments

Please support democracy

Catégorie : Uncategorized

Reasons why a long cooling-off period (4 years or more) prohibiting lobbying after significant political activity is entirely Charter compliant

BACKGROUNDER

Backgrounder

Lobbying Backgrounder

Unethical Actions

Report Card 2022

Key Changes – Backgrounder

Background on Key ProblemsBackground on Key Problems

Background on Key Problems that Make the
Federal Judicial Appointments System Too Political
(December 2021)

Background on Key Problems that Make the
Federal Judicial Appointments System Too Political
(December 2021)

BACKGROUNDER

Backgrounder on 4 Errors Made by federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion in his ruling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s participation in approving the WE Charity grant in spring 2020

List of SenatorsList of Senators

List of Senators Who Hold or Have Recently Held Business/Organization Board Positions and/or Employee Positions and/or Who Have Stock Market Investments

List of Senators Who Hold or Have Recently Held Business/Organization Board Positions and/or Employee Positions and/or Who Have Stock Market Investments

Please support democracy

Background on Key Problems that Make theFederal Judicial Appointments System Too Political(December 2021)

Background on Key Problems that Make theFederal Judicial Appointments System Too Political(December 2021)

Backgrounder on 4 Errors Made by federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion in his ruling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s participation in approving the WE Charity grant in spring 2020

List of Senators Who Hold or Have Recently Held Business/Organization Board Positions and/or Employee Positions and/or Who Have Stock Market Investments

List of Senators Who Hold or Have Recently Held Business/Organization Board Positions and/or Employee Positions and/or Who Have Stock Market Investments

Background on Key Problems that Make the
Federal Judicial Appointments System Too Political
(December 2021)

Background on Key Problems that Make the
Federal Judicial Appointments System Too Political
(December 2021)