An accusation, whether founded or not, may do irreparable harm. All the more so when the person who makes the accusation is a former justice minister of Quebec. Marc Bellemare accused Premier Jean Charest of tolerating a judicial appointments system rife with political patronage – more than tolerating, approving of it, facilitating it and pressuring him to make three appointments favoured by party fundraisers.
That accusation has now been rejected, after a thorough public inquiry, by a distinguished and impartial fact-finder, Michel Bastarache of New Brunswick, a retired Supreme Court judge. Mr. Bastarache is no innocent abroad. He expressed deep concern about the possibility of political meddling in the naming of judges, in a system he said lacks transparency. “The process is vulnerable to all manner of interventions and influence,” he said. But on the specific allegation before him, he found an absence of clear and convincing evidence.
For instance, Mr. Bellemare’s appointment of Marc Bisson came after the justice minister had proposed two other candidates, both of whom were rejected because they did not receive security clearances. Then MNA Norman MacMillan courteously (in Mr. Bellemare’s description) intervened on behalf of Mr. Bisson. Thus, “the recommendation to appoint Mr. Bisson was his own,” Mr. Bastarache says of Mr. Bellemare.
The public has been only too willing to believe Mr. Bellemare’s wild allegations, partly because the appointment system is open to meddling from “members of the National Assembly, members of political parties, lawyers and the candidates themselves,” according to Mr. Bastarache. And why are the names on the judicial selection committee secret? The secrecy is needless, and fuels cynicism. In the end, though, the decision to name judges will, and should, rest with the government, which is accountable to voters in a way that no selection committee could be.
Mr. Charest has been unjustly made to wear the failings of the judicial appointments system. Judicial independence, the cornerstone of the justice system, depends on an appointment system that does not put political allegiance over merit. Creating a more transparent selection process might not undo the political damage to Mr. Charest, but it will help shore up confidence in Quebec justice.