A judge who has received more than $1.3 million without working for 4 years and who is threatened with dismissal will still be able to benefit from a generous retirement pension, our Bureau of Investigation discovered.
Quebec Superior Court judge Gérard Dugré has not sat since September 2019, since the Canadian Judicial Council opened an investigation concerning him.
This did not prevent the magistrate from continuing to receive his generous annual salary which has since increased from $338,000 to $383,700, even after the Judicial Council recommended his dismissal in December 2022, due to his “aggressive and unpleasant” attitude, his questionable humor and his delays in rendering judgments (see down there).
“The judge’s misconduct has so undermined public confidence in the judiciary that he is unfit to continue fulfilling his duties as a judge,” the Council wrote on this subject last year.
- Listen to the press review commented by Alexandre Dubé via QUB :
A full retirement for the judge
In January 2023, the deposed magistrate decided to challenge this decision, which must be ratified by the House of Commons and the Senate to be effective.
Since the case continues to this day before the courts, Gérard Dugré has continued to accumulate years of seniority and has been able to benefit since January 22 from another significant financial advantage: his lifetime pension as a judge. retirement, which is equivalent to two-thirds of his salary.
If he had not contested his dismissal, the magistrate would not have reached the regulatory minimum of 15 years of service to be eligible for the judges’ retirement plan.
Judge Dugré also avoids changes made to the Judges Act last spring; once the dismissal of a judge has been pronounced by the Judicial Council, he or she can no longer accumulate seniority.
But these modifications occurred after the start of the Dugré case and therefore have no impact on him.
“It appears that Judge Dugré is one of the last federally appointed judges to be the subject of dismissal proceedings under the old provisions of the Act according to which he continues to accumulate years of service for the purposes of his pension plan,” explains the assistant dean of the Civil Law Section of the University of Ottawa, Pierre Thibault.
$2.2 million for his defense
The case is reminiscent of that of Judge Michel Girouard, of the Superior Court of Quebec in Abitibi, dismissed in 2018 because he was suspected of having purchased and consumed cocaine from a client when he was a lawyer .
Judge Girouard challenged his dismissal all the way to the Supreme Court and retired in 2021 before the Canadian Parliament confirmed his dismissal.
Judge Dugré’s case also seems to be dragging on. “The process is unduly long,” admits Pierre Thibault. But, at least, this is the last case of this kind.”
There are also the costs for the defense of Judge Dugré. Our Bureau of Investigation reported last January that its lawyers had cost taxpayers $2.2 million, to which must be added the costs incurred over the last year. This brings the bill for public funds to at least $3.5 million, including his salary.
At the time of publishing these lines, we had not heard back from Judge Dugré’s lawyer.
A never-ending process
- 2018-2019: Seven complaints are received against Judge Dugré at the Canadian Judicial Council.
- September 2019: A committee of the Judicial Council begins an investigation and examines the complaints.
- July 2022: The investigative committee recommends the dismissal of Judge Dugré.
- December 2022: The Judicial Council confirms the dismissal of the judge.
- January 2023: Judge Dugré contests his dismissal before the Federal Court.
The disturbing remarks of Judge Dugré
Here are some examples of comments made against the deposed magistrate.
An inappropriate question
“Your client is not accused of sexual assault yet?”
Question asked jokingly by Judge Dugré to a lawyer who represents a supplier to the Just for Laughs festival. The judge was referring to the case of the festival’s founder, Gilbert Rozon.
On alcoholism
“There are many who drink two bottles of wine a day, one at lunchtime, one in the evening, and […] they are not alcoholics at all, because they love wine. […] But the guy who has a glass of wine and gets totally angry […], he has to be careful, he can’t touch that. He has no right, because he is totally crazy. So that’s what alcoholism is.”
“Hungry” rats
“You could be in contempt of court. […] That means we could send you to a cell to think for a few moments […]. We have two kinds: one for the ladies, where there are little mice that we don’t feed. Then there are men, where there are rats […]; They are starving.”
“Let’s give to adoption”
“Let’s give [l’enfant] in adoption. That’s the other solution I can take. I am giving the child up for adoption. […] If the parents are not capable of taking care of it, it is the other [solution].” “But the magic solution, I always have it. […] It is that I order the parts to come back together, then to raise [l’enfant] until he is 18 years old. But unfortunately this is not a solution […] which is retained by the parties. I find it fantastic.”
Source: transcripts provided by the Judicial Council