Government mum on judicial shortlist
Justin Trudeau has called for applications from across Canada to fill a seat customarily reserved for Atlantic Canada, prompting threats of a lawsuit from a group of lawyers from that region.

thestar.com
By Tonda MacCharles
Sept. 24, 2016

A shortlist of names from which the prime minister will pick a new Supreme Court of Canada judge was submitted Friday, but the government will reveal no more information than that.

As an exercise in accountability and transparency for the high court nomination, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set up a new independent advisory board to receive - and seek out - applications. The board, led by former prime minister Kim Campbell, was tasked with vetting candidates and submitting a shortlist of three to five names of qualified, functionally bilingual candidates.

Trudeau is to select what will be his first nomination to the Supreme Court of Canada from the shortlist. However it is unlikely the next round of consultations, which will include an appearance at a parliamentary committee by the eventual nominee, will be completed before the Supreme Court starts its fall session in October.

At first, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould’s office refused Friday to divulge whether the shortlist had been submitted as per the deadline.

It refused to provide general, non-identifying information about those who had sought a top court job, such as the total number of applicants. They had until Aug. 24 to apply. It also refused to give a breakdown of the gender, province of origin, or professional background (bar, bench or law faculties) of the applicants.

Valerie Gervais, press secretary Wilson-Raybould, said “unfortunately we cannot release that information,” adding she did not know the reason why the general information was being kept secret.

“I know that confidentiality is an aspect that is important and they don’t want to discourage candidates from applying,” said Gervais, clarifying she meant future candidates.

Trudeau called for applications from across Canada to fill a seat customarily reserved for Atlantic Canada, prompting threats of a lawsuit from a group of lawyers from that region.

Gervais sent a pre-drafted statement from the minister that repeated Wilson-Raybould’s talking points from the past week and said only that the board “will be providing the prime minister and I (sic) with a shortlist of candidates.”

“In establishing a careful balance between the competing principles of transparency and confidentiality, it was decided that the process should respect the reasonable privacy interests of candidates so that as many qualified candidates as possible will apply. As such, this list will not be made public.”