XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ont.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   Whoo-whee !!  How's that for speed?  Good on lawyer Rocco Galati for   
   knowing his law . . . .   
   ___________________________   
      
   October 8, 2013 - Globe and Mail   
      
      
   Justice Nadon steps aside from Supreme Court until legal challenge resolved   
      
      
      
   One day before he was to hear his first case on the Supreme Court of   
   Canada, Justice Marc Nadon has decided to step aside temporarily in the   
   face of an unprecedented legal challenge to his appointment from Toronto   
   lawyer Rocco Galati.   
      
   "Mr. Justice Marc Nadon has decided, in light of the challenge to his   
   appointment pending before the Federal Court, not to participate for the   
   time being in matters before the Supreme Court of Canada," the court   
   said in a news release on Tuesday.   
      
   Mr. Galati has long been a thorn in the side of Federal Court judges –   
   and Justice Nadon has spent the past 10 years on the Federal Court of   
   Appeal.   
      
      
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   Two years ago, Mr. Galati brought about an end to the Federal Court's   
   practice of using former superior-court judges older than 75, the   
   mandatory retirement age, to hear cases at the request of the court's   
   chief justice. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld his challenge.   
   (Justice Nadon was not involved in that case.)  For several years, he   
   challenged the detentions of suspected terrorists in Federal Court.   
      
   He contends that Justice Nadon was not eligible to take a vacant Quebec   
   seat on the Supreme Court.   
   Section 6 of the Supreme Court Act says a judge on the Quebec Court of   
   Appeal or Superior Court, or from among that province's lawyers, may sit   
   in one of the court's three chairs reserved for Quebec judges.  It does   
   not mention the Federal Court.   
      
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   "The composition of all the courts should be in accordance with the   
   statute and the Constitution," Mr. Galati said in an interview,   
   explaining why he filed a notice of application in Federal Court in an   
   attempt to put the appointment on hold while he seeks a permanent order   
   against it.   
      
   The lack of clarity concerning the appointment of Quebec judges from the   
   Federal Court's trial and appeal divisions is no secret. Justice   
   Minister Peter MacKay mentioned it this summer, and the government asked   
   Ian Binnie, a retired Supreme Court judge from Ontario, to look into it.   
     Mr. Binnie reported that an appointment from the Federal Court is   
   legal. It would not make practical sense, he said, to ask a judge from   
   that bench to resign, then rejoin the Quebec bar for a day or two to   
   qualify.  Another retired Supreme Court judge, Louise Charron, and   
   constitutional expert Peter Hogg, affirmed that opinion.   
      
   Justice Nadon, 64, practised law for 20 years in Quebec and was a judge   
   on the Federal Court's two divisions for another 20. He was sworn in   
   during a private ceremony on Monday. "Justice Nadon is qualified and we   
   are certain he will serve the court with distinction," said Paloma   
   Aguilar, Mr. MacKay's press secretary. "Constitutional experts agree   
   that the Supreme Court Act allows for a sitting Federal Court judge to   
   be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada."   
      
   Mr. Galati argues in his court filing that the government should have   
   referred the issue to the Supreme Court for a ruling on the legality of   
   the appointment.   
      
   The court is set to hear some important cases, including one this week   
   involving terrorism suspect Mohammed Harkat. Such cases are usually   
   heard with the full nine-member bench. The court will be slightly   
   shorthanded when it comes to writing rulings, meaning more work for the   
   remaining eight judges.   
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
      
      
      
      
   On 10/8/2013 1:44 PM, ConɀRConɀ wrote:   
   > Looks like Harper's most recent appointee to the Supreme Court is a bit   
   > of a fibber.  As well as not qualified for the judgeship.   
   > Par for Harper and his talents in appointments - whether to the House,   
   > to the Senate OR to the Supreme Court.   
   >   
   > Maybe Harper can say he 'didn't know about this appointment' and that it   
   > was 'government bureaucrats' who made the choice?   
   > ______________________________________________   
   >   
   > REUTERS -  Published Tuesday, Oct. 08, 2013   
   >   
   >   
   > Supreme Court justice’s appointment challenged in court   
   >   
   >   
   > {Supreme Court of Canada nominee Marc Nadon, left, arrives to testify   
   > before an all-party committee to review his nomination with Justice   
   > Minister Peter MacKay in Ottawa on Oct. 2, 2013.}   
   >   
   >   
   > Less than a week on the job and already newly appointed Supreme Court   
   > Justice Marc Nadon has courted his share of controversy.   
   >   
   > The first kerfuffle came after he told a parliamentary committee the   
   > NHL’s Detroit Red Wings drafted him as a youngster.   
   >   
   > He later clarified that the team never actually drafted him and that he   
   > was using the term in a much looser sense.   
   >   
   > Now a Toronto lawyer is going to court to challenge Nadon’s appointment.   
   >   
   > Rocco Galati argues that Nadon – formerly a Federal Court of Appeal   
   > judge – does not qualify to fill one of three slots reserved for judges   
   > from Quebec on the Supreme Court’s bench.   
   >   
   > Galati says only judges from Quebec’s appeals or superior courts, or   
   > lawyers who have belonged to the province’s bar for at least 10 years,   
   > can be appointed to the Supreme Court.   
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   >   
   >   
   > But former Supreme Court Justice Ian Binnie wrote a legal opinion for   
   > the federal government in support of Nadon’s appointment.   
   >   
   > Galati is asking the court to compel the government to turn over   
   > Binnie’s legal opinion and any other advice it sought.   
   >   
   > He is also seeking an interim order to stay Nadon’s appointment.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)