There are times when Ontario Premier Doug Ford lets his mouth get ahead of his brain. It may be a function of his otherwise significant communication skills but; nevertheless, it sometimes gets him into trouble.
One of those times was when he made a big deal recently of appointing “like-minded” people to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee and then doubling down by saying that Judges appointed under his watch should be like-minded as well.
His remarks came after it was revealed that two former senior members of his staff had been appointed to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee. What he should have said, in my view, was that the two individuals were competent and fully qualified to undertake the responsibility they had been given. Period and full stop.
Instead, he has opened up a Pandora’s box for critics and partisans of other parties to accuse him of stacking the judiciary with people who would jump to his tune. And they have dined out on that.
The reality is that every government, provincial and federal, appoints people who are “like-minded” to boards, commissions, and agencies over which they have control. No one would appoint people who are going to work against them.
In the matter of judicial appointments, judges and justices of the peace must always have total independence from political pressure. But how they get there, and how they are actually appointed, has always been a political process no matter how much some would like to argue otherwise.
That would apply to other governments in Ontario, including those of Liberal, Conservative, and even NDP persuasion. Former Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne tweeted about Ford’s comment related to appointing “like-minded” people and said, “That is categorically NOT what a premier, any premier is elected to do. Intentionally tainting the judicial process is reprehensible but sadly not surprising for this man.”
Wynne should look in her own backyard. I strongly suspect that not a single judge or justice of the peace with a known Conservative background was appointed on her watch, and I would bet that more than a few of those who were appointed had previously made donations to the Liberal Party.
The Trudeau government is no slouch either when it comes to judicial appointments. In one instance, six individuals were appointed to the Judiciary, five of whom were either friends or family members of the current Cabinet Minister from New Brunswick, Dominic Le Blanc, himself a close friend of Justin Trudeau since childhood. Any chance that they might have been like-minded?
Doug Ford has made no secret of his belief that our judicial system is not tough enough on crime, that our bail and parole system is broken, and that too many people before the courts are let out on the streets before they should be. There are significant statistics and tragedies in Ontario that would back that up. It should surprise no one, therefore, that the Ford Government would want to appoint people to the judiciary who would be tough on crime.
A fair question about Ford’s appointments to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee would be whether or not they are competent to serve. In that regard, Attorney General Doug Downey has offered to “go through every single one of the judicial appointments and you will see that they are in fact qualified.” I wonder if anyone has taken him up on that?
Indeed, every appointment made by a government should be based on competency. But compatibility with policy priorities is also a fair consideration.
Political patronage has been around as long as governments have. In days gone by, it was much less subtle than it is now.
More than half a century ago, through a series of unusual and unexpected circumstances, I found myself President of what was then called the North Muskoka P.C. Association. I thought my job was to get the vote out on election day.
But on one occasion, I was in the local LCBO store, (I am pretty sure I was old enough) when the Manager, I believe his name was Tio Grosso, a nice guy, asked me to come into his office. He had a list of summer students he wanted to hire, and it turned out he was required to get my approval. I was taken by surprise and told him to hire whoever he wanted to.
That experience, and one or two others, taught me the depth to which patronage was rooted in all political parties. It is different now of course, but to believe that patronage is not alive and well in all political circles would be a mistake.
In a recent editorial, the Toronto Star, decrying Doug Ford’s defense of the appointments he made to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee, did acknowledge this: “No one is naïve. It’s the perk and prerogative of governments to appoint people to all sorts of bodies, agencies and commissions. We understand that governments typically fill such vacancies with allies and supporters seeking to reward friends and tilt the policy direction of such bodies”.
So, the question is this: If it is, as the Star says, the prerogative of government to make these appointments, is it a different set of circumstances when it comes to judicial appointments? The argument that it is, relates to the importance of the independence of the judiciary.
It should be remembered, however, that governments appoint many other tribunals and quasi-judicial boards that are independent by law and cannot be interfered with. Members are vetted and chosen by governments with the hope that they are both competent and “like-minded’ in relation to major policy matters, but they cannot interfere or influence their decisions. The same standards should, in my view, apply to judicial appointments.
The policy of the Ford Government in assessing and appointing provincial judges is similar to other provinces and to that of the federal government. They all seek people who they believe are qualified and in line with an ideology that is similar to theirs.
I do wish that Premier Ford had addressed this issue differently but at the end of the day, I believe he, like every other political jurisdiction, is within his right to employ an appointment process that is within the parameters of his government’s priorities.
It’s just how government works.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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It might be the way government works…. but it is not how it should work. It is how corruption can work.
Ford has now admitted how his government works i.e. in a corrupt way. Obviously -being a man of “selected” principles-he is just fine with that.
Jailing the “bad” is not a good general principle. It might easily garner votes but jail is a school for crime. Here one can meet like-minded people and future associates. Even worse than street corner society. Do politicians really care? If it will garner votes politicians cannot help themselves. The primary goal is to achieve power.
The once proud, politically independent, absolutely professional Ontario civil service has been gutted of those who worked to earn their way up the ranks. Those who worked their way up the ranks understood how things work; they had a depth of understanding that mere “policy wonks” do not have. Successive governments (all stripes) saw gutting the civil service as a way to reduce costs while impressing the public. I am not an NDP member nor am I member of any party. But it was Bob Rae who showed wisdom far above the ordinary in his way of cutting back on the number of civil servants. And it was those supporting the “Greatest Canadian” T.C. Douglas who gave us much free health care.
Now, upstanding citizens like DD “Dangerous Doug” Ford want to tear it down in favour of a two-tiered system – one for the rich and the dregs for the poor. And he wants to convince us this is a good thing! And, some will actually support that silliness.
The rich and powerful want to maintain control!
Ontario had a nearly perfect solution -in its provincial probation and parole service. Lawyers found ways to tear it apart – not maliciously, but because they wanted to win individual cases. This no matter what the larger results might produce. And the parole boards were increasingly stacked with retired police officers, while jail guards managed to transfer to community services to become probation and parole officers. With few exceptions, they carried with them the “wrong baggage”.
The Ontario system can be fixed but DD Ford is not the man to do it.
I weep for Ontario.
So Hugh, what you are saying is that Ford is too honest. Kathleen Wynn and McGuinty wallowed in patronage appointments to all agencies, boards and commissions tainting the judicial process is reprehensible but sadly not surprising for liberals. Sadly, these appointments were not competent people.
Obviously judges are the problem.
Ford loses in court a lot.
So judges need to be replaced with Ford-friendly ones.
There. Fixed it.
It’s just how the Ford government works.
Trump did the same thing to keep himself out of jail.
It’s about keeping Ford out of jail not putting other lawbreakers in.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/how-government-works/