Hiding from the Council of Ministers that we are about to appoint one of his friends as a judge is “unprecedented”, according to Conservative leader Éric Duhaime, who thus denounced the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, on Wednesday.
Mr. Duhaime believes that this is “an extraordinarily serious error”, but refuses to go so far as to ask for the minister’s resignation. However, he demands that the minister disclose the pedigree of the other candidates who were rejected.
Remember that Mr. Jolin-Barrette appointed his friend Charles-Olivier Gosselin judge at the Court of Quebec at the beginning of May, without informing his cabinet colleagues of this conflict of interest.
“Mr. Jolin-Barrette lied by omission,” said the Conservative leader at a press conference at the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Quebec City.
“A precedent of a minister who hid his link, there is none,” he continued, criticizing Prime Minister François Legault for having approved this appointment without even blaming his minister.
Recommendation of the Bastarache commission
“It feels like it’s worse than what happened under the Liberals,” Duhaime said.
“Are we circumventing the spirit of the process that was put in place a decade ago” at the end of the Bastarache commission?, asked Mr. Duhaime.
It also takes up a recommendation of the Bastarache commission which wanted to make the appointment process more transparent, by requiring the minister to justify his recommendation of a candidate.
Mr. Duhaime asks the Minister to reveal what was the background of the other candidates who had applied, without however disclosing their identity. The Conservative leader indeed points out that Mr. Gosselin had only the minimum experience required to apply.
Under the current process, an independent committee proposes a list of a maximum of three names to the minister after a notice of candidacy. Subsequently, the Minister proposes a candidate to the Council of Ministers who only endorses the choice.
There is currently no obligation for the Minister to declare his conflict of interest. However, Mr. Jolin-Barrette said Sunday that he was ready to amend the current regulations to compel the minister to disclose any conflict of interest before appointing a magistrate.