Where to begin?

Good Day Readers:

There have been so many twists and turns in the Douglas Inquiry it's hard to know where to begin so let's start with "Anonymous" who contacted this site last month. It's probably reasonable to assume they were in touch with other media outlets and may have been instrumental in bringing Chief Justice Joyal's complaint before the Canadian Judicial Council to the public's attention. Remember it was filed late in May yet until yesterday the CJC had remained silent.

Suppose said complaint was eventually dismissed as vexatious, frivolous or whatever, would The Council have issued a Press Release or kept taxpayers in the dark?

Bruce Owen in an article (Winnipeg Free Press) today (Judge's expenses questioned - Chief Justice files complaint about Douglas; therapies pre-approved: lawyer) raised the interesting question of how did the Chief Justice obtain Lori Doublas' expense documents. Even more interesting, why did he proceed with his complaint even after he'd been advised her expenses had been pre-approved by the Office of the Commissioner for Judicial Affairs Canada (FJA for short)? If Sheila Block, Lori Douglas' principal lawyer, is to be believed, that information is the exclusive purview of a federally appointed Justice and the FJA.

While on the subject of the FJA, here's a link sent recently to CyberSmokeBlog by one of its readers:

    http://www.fja-cmf.gc.ca/fja-cmf/publications/rpp/2013-2014/fja01-eng.html

With 66 employees, the Office serves more than 1,108 judges, 870 retired judges and survivors, 133 members of the Judicial Advisory Committees, between 500 and 600 applicants each year for judicial appointment and Canadians in general (including members of the judiciary and legal profession through publication of the Federal Courts Report. FJA administers a budget in excess of $495 million annually which pays for judges' salaries, allowances and annuities, relocation and travel expenses, as well as, covering the costs of running the Office (informatics, training, finance, administration and other related expenses).

From which Douglas Inquiry judicial closet will the next skeleton drop?

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk