Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Signal High) —– Ontario Premier Doug Ford has come out strongly in favour of an elected judiciary, and some are saying it’s high time. Ford recently introduced his ‘tough on crime’ agenda and urged the federal government to change regulations, making it more difficult for the accused to get bail. He also sent a very direct message to his federal counterparts, that judicial involvement with the legislative process is not welcome.
At a recent public appearance, Ford said “The system’s broken — and once these judges get into their position, they have this sense of entitlement, that’s what drives me crazy … We were democratically elected as a government and I always say, the legislature is supreme, meaning the people are supreme … When you get a mandate to do something, you can’t have judges constantly overruling the government.”
Ford and his conservative government have recently lost several charter appeals — meaning the government introduced legislation that was subsequently challenged in the courts, and found to be unconstitutional.
In Canada, most judges are appointed by the Prime Minister. But the judicial officials that preside over bail hearings are, for the most part, justices of the peace. They are not judges. In fact, they don’t even have to be lawyers. They are expensive political appointments made at the provincial level by the Premier of the day. Since Ford has been in power for some time, it stands to reason that at least some of his criticisms can be traced right back to his own appointments.
Canadians have been questioning the composition and relevance of its justice system for some time. Some are suggesting the courts have outlived their usefulness, in current configuration — that the Canadian justice system needs a complete overhaul. Time will tell, and Signal High will follow this developing story.
Ford continued his rant about the judiciary, “Matter of fact, I’ll pay them to retire earlier. I’ll pay you out for two, three, four years. Just get out of the system, simple as that.”
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