Premier Danielle Smith said Alberta will mirror a motion passed last year by the Quebec government that asked for a formal role in selecting that province’s superior court judges.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
The Alberta government is preparing to introduce a motion in the legislature this week calling on Ottawa to give the province more say over judicial appointments. But a spokesperson for the federal Justice Minister reiterated a response the minister gave last week, saying Ottawa will keep its current appointment process.
Premier Danielle Smith, at a press conference Monday, said Alberta will mirror a motion passed last year by the Quebec government that asked for a formal role in selecting that province’s superior court judges. It did not find support in Ottawa at the time. But Ms. Smith said she hopes the Alberta motion will encourage federal support in the House of Commons.
“It’s time for Alberta to have a real voice in selecting judges who serve Albertans,” Ms. Smith said.
The Premier has repeatedly pressed Prime Minister Mark Carney this year to give Alberta more say over judicial appointments, arguing such changes would support national unity – an active conversation in her province where a galvanized separatist movement is trying to force an independence referendum.
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According to Canada’s Constitution, Ottawa is in charge of appointing judges to higher level courts across the country, including the Supreme Court and the federal courts, as well as to the appeal and superior courts in each province. There are 17 judicial advisory committees across Canada, including one for Alberta, that assess applicants and make recommendations to the federal government.
Each committee has seven members: Ottawa names three; the provincial government names one; the province’s chief justice names one; and two lawyers’ groups – one national and one provincial – each get one pick.
For months, Ms. Smith has disputed the independence of federally appointed judges and implied some rulings were being made along partisan lines. In January, top judges in Alberta, led by the province’s acting Chief Justice Dawn Pentelechuk, issued a rare statement that underlined the importance of independent courts in a healthy democracy.
Last week, Ms. Smith, Quebec Premier François Legault, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Ontario’s Doug Ford sent a letter to Mr. Carney asking that federal appointments to superior trial courts and courts of appeal in the provinces be made from a pool of candidates recommended and approved by the relevant provincial government.
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Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser dismissed their proposals and his spokesperson, Jeremy Bellefeuille, echoed that statement on Monday, saying Ottawa plans to maintain the current judicial appointment process.
“Canadians are fortunate to live in a country where judges are not political figures or household names, because judges should be chosen on merit, not politics,” wrote Mr. Bellefeuille.
“Canada’s judicial appointment process is among the most rigorous and independent in the world, and we are committed to keeping it that way.”
Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery said he hopes Ottawa takes notice of the four provinces’ requests and returns with new proposals. He also said Alberta hasn’t ruled out Ms. Smith’s prior threat to withhold some judicial funding if the federal government doesn’t agree to the province’s demands.
“Thus far, we’ve not had the progress that we were hoping to, especially through the sort of diplomatic routes,” he said. “We’re now looking for some more meaningful and consequential changes through the motion and hopefully though the support of Parliament.”
He added that the proposed motion is “aimed squarely at Alberta’s long-standing challenges with Ottawa, not with the courts themselves.”
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Last April, Quebec’s National Assembly voted unanimously to adopt a motion calling for the government to be more involved in the appointment of judges to that province’s Superior Court and Court of Appeal.
Quebec wanted to amend the Constitution Act to require that judges be selected from among recommendations made by the provincial government.
“We are offering the federal government the opportunity to reiterate, through concrete actions, its recognition of Quebec as a distinct nation within the federation,” Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said at the time.
Mr. Carney, then in the middle of the federal election campaign, said he would not comply with Quebec’s request. Asked about the motion during a press conference at the time, he stressed the importance of “independent judges” and pointed out that the Quebec government has a representative on the committees that evaluate candidates for the courts.
Judicial appointments will also feature in one of the nine questions expected in Alberta’s provincial referendum scheduled for Oct. 19. Residents will be asked whether they support the Alberta government working with other willing provinces toward a constitutional amendment that would see the province select justices appointed to the King’s Bench and appellate courts.
Mr. Amery said the province’s upcoming legislative motion is distinct from the referendum question, but he did not elaborate.
With reports from The Canadian Press