The Quebec government has appointed a close friend of the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, as a judge. At the risk of disappointing some, I see no scandal in this.
Minister SJB isn’t particularly popular in the judiciary – I’m going to enter a euphemism contest with that phrase. Nor in the legal community in general. We heard several behind the scenes to slay this appointment that looks like nepotism.
To judges who take offense, I suggest thinking about their own judicial genealogy, for few have come straight out of the thigh of Jupiter or the elbow of Themis.
This new judge of the criminal division of the Court of Quebec, Charles-Olivier Gosselin, is a very reputable defense lawyer from Quebec. He made himself known to the public by defending the killer of the Quebec mosque. It is true that he is particularly young: he is not quite “12 years old at the Bar”. As one must be a member of the Bar Association for 10 years to be appointed judge, it is a kind of speed record.
We can discuss the advisability of appointing lawyers to magistrates with relatively little experience. But in itself this is not a valid objection.
The most important thing to note is that his candidacy was selected, along with two others (if we trust the regulations), by a committee independent of the minister.
I see some rolling their eyes at the back of the room?
No, no, this committee is really independent. It is made up of five members: a judge chosen by the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec (who, as everyone knows, should not be invited to the same dance floor as SJB); a lawyer or professor chosen by the Bar; a member of the public designated by the Office des professions; a representative of victims’ groups (a highly questionable innovation by the minister, but that’s another story); and finally a person appointed by the Chamber of Notaries. The minister only “controls” the choice of one of the five members of the committee.
This process was introduced after the Bastarache commission (2011) and generally gives good results. He largely depoliticized the appointments – still leaving a margin of discretion to the minister, but in a “pool” of three names. This is how the former justice minister of the Parti Québécois Bertrand St-Arnaud was appointed judge… by the Liberals.
In the absence of a “nomination” committee, which chooses instead of the minister, we have a “selection” committee, which chooses the best candidates.
However, this committee selected Mr.e Gosselin among its three successful candidates.
Should the Minister have declared his friendship and had himself replaced when he saw his name? Without a doubt. The gesture of transparency would have been more virtuous. But on the scale of “partisan” appointments, this one comes very, very low on my list and does not scandalize me at all.
But while everyone has their eyes on Quebec, we neglect what is happening on the North Shore, and which is much more disturbing…
Last week, Alexandre Germain was appointed judge at the same Court of Quebec, criminal division and youth division, in the district of Mingan.
He too was selected by the local committee. Except that this selection was the result of a second selection committee. Last year, a first committee received more than half a dozen applications (eight to ten, according to my sources). He submitted his report to the Minister… who canceled the process altogether and created a new committee.
The Minister indeed has this power. For what ? Because sometimes there are too few applications, or a problem is revealed about a candidate. It has already happened that only one person ended up on the list, for lack of applications. The Liberals also canceled at least one contest.
But in the case of Sept-Îles, we know from good sources that several lawyers with relevant experience were in the running.
How to explain that the Minister canceled this competition? For what reasons ? He should explain himself, which unfortunately the rules do not oblige him to do.
How is it finally that a lawyer… from Longueuil, relatively inexperienced, finds himself in this position? Me Germain may be a very good jurist, but he is currently “in the litigation department of the CISSS” in his region.
The reality of Sept-Îles is very special, in particular because of the Aboriginal presence.
The mayor of the city, Steeve Boudreau, is a former DPCP prosecutor – he was notably in charge of the “Rambo” Gauthier file. He did not hesitate to denounce this process. The entire legal community is shocked.
“If I had been the representative of the Bar on the committee and my report had been cancelled, I would never have sat on a second! “, he told me.
For a government that claims to defend “the regions”, let’s say that things are not going very well. And with good reason.
The power to cancel a competition should only be used as a last resort, not as a way to circumvent the process.
This is what the minister must explain, because right now it’s messy.