From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   And, if nominated, it will likely get her a seat in Mulcair's government . . .   
   .   
   ________________________________   
   Ottawa Citizen July 5, 2015   
      
   Federal lawyer Emilie Taman defies PSC over political bid   
       
   A federal prosecutor is openly defying a Public Service Commission decision   
   that denied her leave to become a candidate in the upcoming federal election   
   and is seeking the NDP nomination in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier.   
      
   Emilie Taman, a prosecutor with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada   
   (PPSC) and daughter of former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour, announced   
   on social media Saturday her plan to run for the party's nomination despite   
   objections from the watchdog    
   overseeing neutrality in the public service.   
      
   Without the PSC's blessing, she is taking an 'unauthorized' leave from the   
   public service.   She has already received a letter from her bosses warning   
   her that they expect her to be at work on Monday.   
      
   Taman hasn't formally resigned but she expects to lose her job.     
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   She turned over her files to colleagues, surrendered her security pass,   
   Blackberry and cleared out her office Friday.  The next day she tweeted: "It   
   is official. I am throwing my hat in the ring."   
      
   She is also giving up a job for a run at an NDP nomination in a Liberal   
   stronghold.   
      
   "When I expressed an interest in engaging in federal politics as a candidate,   
   I was not authorized to take an unpaid leave for that purpose.  So, here I am!   
   " she wrote on Facebook.   
      
   "This election is simply too important for me to stand on the sidelines.  I   
   have put everything on the line, which demonstrates my commitment to becoming   
   your next MP."   
      
   In an interview, Taman said she felt she had no option but to risk her job.   
   She is challenging the PSC's decision in Federal Court but she is running out   
   of time because that hearing - which was expedited - isn't until Sept. 1.   By   
   that point, the nomination meeting could be over.   No date has been set for   
   the meeting.   With    
   Taman, three are seeking the nomination.   
      
   She appealed to the PSC several weeks ago to reconsider its decision and grant   
   her leave until the Federal Court determined her case.  The PSC refused.   
      
   The PSC has the exclusive authority to decide who can seek nominations and run   
   in elections.  Public servants who get approval can take leave without pay   
   during the election period.  If elected, they must leave the public service.   
      
   Taman graduated from law school in 2004, following in the footsteps of her   
   well-known mother.     
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Arbour also served as the chief prosecutor for war crimes   
   tribunals in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.  Arbour was courted by the   
   Liberals to run for office in the mid- and late-2000s but did not do so.   
      
   Taman worked as a law clerk at the Supreme Court before becoming a federal   
   prosecutor handling what she called routine regulatory prosecutions under such   
   legislation as the Immigration and Refugee Protection act, the Fisheries Act   
   and the Income Tax Act.    
    She has also prosecuted two cases under the Lobbying Act.   
      
   But Taman argues there's more at stake here than her job.  Her situation has   
   become a touchstone for the political rights of prosecutors and the   
   Association of Justice Counsel -- which represents 2,700 lawyers working in   
   government -- has taken on the    
   case.   
      
   The union fears the commission's decision sets the stage for a "blanket   
   prohibition" on federal prosecutors ever running for office.   
      
   Taman wants the Federal Court to set aside the PSC decision as "unreasonable"   
   because it fails to balance her obligations as a public servant -- to be loyal   
   and politically impartial -- with her constitutional right to seek public   
   office.   
      
   The union is also concerned that senior PPSC management recommended to the   
   commission that Taman be denied leave to run because an "allegiance to a   
   political party" would undermine the office's independence and affect   
   perceptions of her impartiality    
   should she lose and return to work.   
      
   Taman still has hope the hearing will happen before she finally would have to   
   resign or be terminated.   
      
   Another public prosecutor Maureen Harquail was in the same boat as Taman when   
   the PSC refused to grant her leave to run in 2004 federal election.  By time   
   the court heard her case, the election was over and judge dismissed the   
   challenge as moot.   
      
   The judge did, however, say that the PSC's decision was "unreasonable"   
   particularly because the then Justice deputy minister recommended it approve   
   Harquail's request.   
      
   Harquail has left the public service and is running as the Conservative   
   candidate in Don Valley East.   
      
   Peter MacKay, the minister of Justice and Attorney General, was fired in 1997   
   as a Crown prosecutor in Nova Scotia for seeking Progressive Conservative   
   nomination in his riding.  MacKay, who won the election, eventually reached a   
   settlement with the    
   province, which included a review of the law.   
      
   Today, most provincial prosecutors are allowed to take leave to run in   
   provincial and federal elections.   
      
   For example, Julie Bourgeois, an assistant Crown attorney for Ontario, ran as   
   a Liberal candidate in the riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell during the   
   2011 election and went back to that job when she lost.  She was recently   
   appointed a judge in the    
   Ontario Court of Justice.   
      
   Alex Burton, a Crown prosecutor for British Columbia, took a leave when he ran   
   for the leadership of the federal Liberal party.   
      
   "(Former Conservative MP and cabinet minister) Vic Toews is a judge and if he   
   can exercise his judicial function without the perception of impartiality,   
   then it is very difficult to see how I couldn't return and exercise my   
   function with impartiality,"    
   Taman said.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)