POLICE GET SAY IN JUDGE SELECTION

Law-And-Order Representatives Will Sit On Judicial Advisory Committees

OTTAWA -- Canada's cops are about to get a say over who can be a
federal judge under changes Justice Minister Vic Toews is set to unveil soon.

The latest part of the Tories' law-and-order agenda will see police
representatives added to the judicial advisory committees operating
in each province that assess the qualifications of potential judges.

But given the way Toews has previously railed against activist judges
with Liberal ties, his plan to reform the system is also raising
suspicions his real goal is to make it easier to put a Tory stamp on
the country's judiciary.

"The law-enforcement community is a very important aspect of the
justice system and to date they have been under-represented in that
process," Toews said Tuesday in an interview.

Toews said he hopes to soon have law-and-order representatives
serving on the committees now dominated by lawyers.

"We are getting all the names in place so that this can commence
fairly quickly."

Winnipeg Liberal MP Anita Neville, who has been a frequent critic of
Toews, said she suspects the changes are part of his desire to stack
the courts with judges who share his political views.

"He is doing through the back door what he can't do through the front
door," the Winnipeg South Centre MP said. "It is part of loading the
committee to meet his agenda."

Said a senior member of the country's legal community who did not
want to be named: "The whole thing is ridiculous."

Fuelling concerns over Toews's motives is the fact he sparked
controversy while Manitoba's justice minister in 1998 by rejecting a
slate of judicial candidates that a similar provincial review
committee had submitted. His demand that names be put forward for
consideration as provincial judges led to allegations Toews was
politically interfering in the committee's work. The other major
change Toews is making will move to a simple pass/fail rating of
lawyers interested in a judicial appointment.

Currently, the committees have a three-tiered rating system --
unacceptable, recommended or highly recommended.

Toews is simplifying the rating system because of what he said were
too many inconsistencies and wild fluctuations from one province to
the next based on the percentage of those highly recommended versus
those who were only recommended.

"Anyone who is recommended should be suitable for a judge," he said.

The advisory committees are responsible for vetting names from which
the justice minister can then choose to fill the 1,100 federally
appointed judges who sit on the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal
Court, the Tax Court of Canada and the Court Martial Appeal Court as
well as courts of appeal and superior courts in each province. A
spokesman for the Canadian Police Association said the issue has been
raised with Toews but the group representing 54,000 police personnel
won't comment until the changes are announced.

NDP justice critic Joe Comartin said Toews is moving in a direction
that was recommended by the justice committee last Parliament to have
more lay representatives on review committees.

"It is a good thing to broaden the base of the committee," Comartin said.

Comartin said the big test for Toews and the Harper government will
be ensuring the coming reforms aren't tainted by simply replacing
Liberals on the committees with Tories.

"What is important is that those appointments not be made on the
basis of partisanship," Comartin said.

While opposition critic, Toews lobbied for changes to the
appointments system that he said allowed the Liberals to use
judgeships as patronage plums.

At one point last year, he denounced the system, saying that "the
evidence is overwhelmingly clear that politics plays a significant
consideration."

Judging By Facts...

What do the review committees do?

THE independent judicial advisory committees are described as being
at the heart of the appointments process. Any lawyer who aspires to
be a federal judge needs to get a thumbs-up from the committee in
their own province in order to get on the list from which the justice
minister makes their appointments.

Why should I care?

IN the era of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, judges are
increasingly important players who often end up making law with their
rulings. Those who sit on the federal bench also get 232,000 of your
tax dollars each year.

What are the politics at play?

JUSTICE Minister Vic Toews is no friend of judicial activism. Plus,
he loves reaching out to police as part of his law-and-order agenda.
The concern here is that Toews is looking to score political points
by getting cops on the advisory committees who may then make it
easier for him to find appointments who will be hang-'em-high judges.