How say you Mr. Owen Rees?

Good Day Readers:

A seemingly innocuous question by frequent contributor Vancouver-based Chris Budgell has CyberSmokeBlog off on another "voyage of discovery." In no particular order:

(1) Did Justice Abella travel wherever and whenever to deliver her speech on taxpayer time?

(2) Were any of her expenses in so doing paid for by Canadian taxpayers?

(3) If "yes" to either or both of the aforementioned does her speech not constitute a public good that should be available to the media or any Canadian for that matter?

(4) What is the Supreme Court's policy, or does it have one, for electronically archiving speeches and attendance at conferences by Justices so the resulting information can be shared and readily accessed by Canadians?

CSB's very preliminary research suggests the Canadian Judicial Council is exempt from information requests  under The Access to Information Act. Ditto for the Supreme Court of Canada?

The above list is incomplete CyberSmokeBlog has others. In the meantime, it's navigating The  Access to Information Act legislation in an attempt to ascertain whether the CJC has a blanket exemption from all The Act's provisions and if this also applies to the Supreme Court of Canada.

As you can see, CSB is sending a copy of this posting to Mr. Rees and will publish any reply received.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk

Dear Mr. Budgell,

Thank you for your enquiry. Unfortunately, the speech was not published and Justice Abella does not release copies of her speaking notes.

Thank you for your understanding.

Kind regards,
Owen M. Rees

Executive Legal Officer | Adjoint exécutif juridique
Chambers of the Chief Justice | Cabinet de la Juge en chef
Supreme Court of Canada | Cour suprême du Canada
301 Wellington Street | 301, rue Wellington
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0J1

Owen.Rees@SCC-CSC.CA

Tel. | Tél.: 613-996-9296 / Fax | Téléc.: 613-952-3092

From: Chris Budgell [mailto:cjbudgell@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 2:25 PM
To: Rees Owen
Subject: Re: Speech by Justice Cromwell

Dear Mr. Rees:

In December you provided me with a copy of a speech given by Justice Cromwell. I would be grateful if you could also send me a copy of a speech given by Justice Abella in July 2011 to an audience at the University College, London. The title is "Constitutions and Judges: Changing Roles, Rules, and Expectations".

Regards,
Chris Budgell

Owen.Rees@SCC-CSC.CA