Don Butler at the Ottawa Citizen has published a pair of fascinating articles about current tensions between the Canadian government and the Federal Court. Both articles are worth a read in their entirety, as they contain numerous statistics, stories, and quotes.
For example, did you know that:
- A chief justice of the Federal Court contacted the president of the Canadian Bar Association and asked him to respond to Jason Kenney’s public criticisms of the judiciary?
- That Conservative MPs tried (and failed) to haul Justice Boivin before a parliamentary committee to answer questions about one of his decisions?
- That in the first half of 2011 judges appointed in the last three years were far less likely to quash decisions by government officers and tribunals on most immigration issues than judges appointed by Liberal prime ministers?
- That following Kenney’s public criticisms of the judiciary overturned fewer (although not significantly) government decisions?
- The former chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board has said that some board members have discreetly deferred to criticism that Jason Kenney made of the Board?
The series also featured the following extremely useful chart showing the judicial review success rate amongst the different judges.
The two stories are: