The Shotgun Blog
« Academia | Main | Lewis Lapham: Journalist Clairevoyant »
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Charades
[cross-posted to Daimnation!]
"MPs will scrutinize nominees for Supreme Court," trumpets the headline in the Globe and Mail. In case you didn't understand the significance, the first paragraph of the story notes that the public hearings are "unprecedented".
So Paul Martin has begun to rectify the "democratic deficit" by making appointments to the high court more accountable and open to scrutiny, right? Well, there's a catch. There's always a catch. Several of them, actually:
- the two new nominees for the Supreme Court will be announced today. The hearings take place tomorrow.
- the judicial nominees do not even appear before the committee. Instead, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler will field questions.
- the panel cannot veto the Prime Minister's chosen nominees.
- and, finally, there's no formal mechanism for the panel to object to the nominees, make recommendations or even hold any kind of vote on the matter.
There very notion that Parliament should actually have any power over appointments to the Supreme Court, of course, raises the spectre of - say it with me, folks - "American-style confirmation hearings" in which potential justices are "grilled" over their background and opinions. (The horror!) In Canada, of course, there are no checks on the PM's power to stack the court as he sees fit. And in an age when the court wields unprecedented power, it's absolutely disheartening to see Canadians, in their Canadian manner, just accept it. Aside from the arguments over health care, there is no better example of how the dreaded phrase "American-style" effectively shuts down debate in this country.
Proponents of the status quo point to the "circus" surrounding the nominations of Clarence Thomas and Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. The minute a Canadian Prime Minister appoints someone like Thomas to our Supreme Court, we'll see how long it takes before they demand a binding vote on the matter.
Posted by Damian Penny on August 24, 2004 in Canadian Politics | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515b5d69e200d8342132d553ef
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Charades:
» New Supreme from small dead animals
Allow me to introduce readers to the incoming Supreme Court Justice, Rosalie Abello. This page from the socialist manifesto quote should provide about all Canadians need to know about her. "We need to understand that "equality" does not necessarily mea... [Read More]
Tracked on 2004-08-24 5:05:29 PM
» New Supreme from small dead animals
Allow me to introduce readers to the incoming Supreme Court Justice, Rosalie Abella. This page from the socialist manifesto quote should provide about all Canadians need to know about her. "We need to understand that "equality" does not necessarily mea... [Read More]
Tracked on 2004-08-24 9:53:50 PM
Comments
Rosalie Abella. God help us.
Posted by: gnotalex | 2004-08-24 9:34:12 AM
Just goes to show that while you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, you can put a silk robe on one.
Posted by: PAC | 2004-08-24 10:11:29 AM
Another good example of the flourishing democratic nation that is Canada, compared to the right-wing dictatorship that is the USA.
Posted by: lrC | 2004-08-24 12:06:02 PM
How do you ensure gay marriage passes in the Supreme Court?? Appoint two pro-gay marriage judges thats how. As gnotalex says "God help us all."
Posted by: Mike P | 2004-08-24 3:45:02 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.