.IvisonJ: Johnston affair serves Liberals another hard lesson in the dangers of patronage via nationalpost
Recommended from EditorialThe bigger problem is likely going to be finding a jurist who is willing to step into the breach. One retired judge I spoke with said he doesn’t know anyone who would touch this file with a 10-foot pole because it has become so highly politicized. He said most judges have had some political affiliation before being appointed to the bench — a fact he said does not negate their ability to be impartial.
It is one of the besetting sins of Canadian politics that nearly 20 years after the Harper Conservatives promised an all-party consultation process on the appointment of officers of Parliament, virtually all political and judicial candidates still rely on the patronage of the prime minister and his cabinet.
Appointing people to high positions because they supported your campaign, or helped you raise money, was already well-established by the time JFK named his brother, Robert, as attorney general of the United States because he said he saw nothing wrong in giving him a little legal experience before he practiced law.The Canadian Bar Association has expressed its concerns about the federal appointment process of judges, a process it said allows speculation about political interference.
But the mood of the country is that the issue needs a public airing if trust in the system to be restored .
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