CyberSmokeBlog to Marc Nadon: "Give the $145,000 to Rocco Galati ..... now!"

The $145,000 of your hard earned taxpayer dollars the Harper government gave to Marc Nadon to sit on his ass and do nothing!

Good Day Readers:

Winnipeger Rosemary Barton who sometimes hosts and is a frequent guest on the CBC Television's daily public affairs program, Power & Politics did a piece yesterday (Tuesday) about how the failed Marc Nadon appointment cost taxpayers approximately $250,000 but it just gets better.

Ms Barton noted Mr. Nadon was paid about $145,000 worth of salary while he awaited the outcome of the court challenge but was unable to speculate what would happen with this money. Well, does CyberSmokeBlog have a suggestion for you. Why not give it to Rocco Galati's Constitutional Rights Centre to help fund other Canadians who'd like to challenge the Harper government on constitutional-charter related issues but lack the financial means. Should it refuse, Mr Galati ought to sue Stephen Harper and/or Marc Nadon. Now wouldn't that be interesting.

Here's another interesting case for the CRC. Manitoba Associate Queen's Bench Justice (Family Division) Lori Douglas has also been sitting on her ass (CyberSmokeBlog saw her internet "modelling debut pictures" .....!) for at least a couple years while the unmitigated disaster that is the Douglas Inquiry tries to get its .... together. During that time what has she done lately to give taxpayers any value for their money? By way of financial comparison she makes Marc Nadon look like a piker.

Recall how federal Treasury Board President Tony Clement recently promised to push for legislation that would not allow suspended Senators Brazeau, Duffy and Wallin to accumulate pensionable time while they too sit on their collective asses so why should Ms Douglas? Besides, with her legal expenses being paid by you coupled with the glacial pace of the Inquiry all she and her legal team need do is drag out the process for approximately another five years when she'll qualify for a full pension and the Canadian Judicial Council will be rid of its colossal disaster. What a perfect solution save for taxpayers!

This is why you should contribute whatever you can to the Constitutional Rights Centre.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk

Cost of Marc Nadon appointment process? $250,000

Newly released document's show cost of voided process to select Marc Nadon to Supreme Court

By Chris Hall
Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Justice Marc Nadon, of the Federal Court of Appeal, is shepherded into parliamentary hearings on his nomination to the Supreme Court of Canada, by Justice Minister Peter MacKay. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

The federal government spent nearly $250,000 to review the aborted nomination of Marc Nadon to fill a Quebec vacancy on the Supreme Court of Canada - an appointment the court struck down last week.

Documents tabled in the Commons set out the costs of choosing and nominating Nadon.

The total includes $80,894 for legal services and another $152,294 for translation and other professional services.

Still, the costs associated with Nadon’s appointment are considerably less than what was spent to review Justice Richard Wagner just a year earlier.

The documents put the total cost of his successful appointment at nearly $345,000, including $66,950 for legal services.

In contrast, the joint review of Justices Michael Moldaver and Andromache Karakatsanis cost about $314,000 in 2011.

There is no immediate explanation for the cost discrepancies, said Liberal MP Irwin Colter, the source of the request for information that produced the documents.

“For example, there’s a discrepancy in the amount of legal services that were outlaid for Justice Nadon that was different than others, so we want to know why there was a [higher] cost for legal services," Cotler said.

Harper: will respect decision

There is no immediate explanation for the cost discrepancy.

To appoint a Supreme Court justice, a committee of MPs looks at a long list of candidates prepared by the federal justice minister. The committee decides on a short list of three names, which is provided to the prime minister.

Nadon’s appointment was rejected by the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday, which ruled 6-1 that he was not qualified to fill one of the court’s three seats from Quebec.

Legal observers say it was a stunning rebuke for the government, which tapped the semi-retired and relatively low-profile Nadon from the Federal Court of Appeal.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government will respect the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court’s ruling that Nadon failed to meet the requirement that Quebec judges be either members of a Quebec superior court or a current member of the province’s bar association.

Harper responded for the first time to Friday’s ruling, insisting his government was very surprised by the 6-1 ruling because “we had commissioned expert opinion on it which was completely contrary to the decision.’’

That review was done by retired Supreme Court justice Ian Binnie who said there was no obstacle to appointing Nadon. His opinion was supported by another former justice, Louise Charron.

Nadon: ends uncertainty

“But look, that said, that’s the decision,’’ Harper told reporters in the Netherlands, where he was attending an international nuclear safety summit.

“We haven't taken a decision on who the candidate will be. We haven't even taken a decision on taking a decision on the process.”

That would appear to close the door to suggestions that Nadon could be put forward again if he resigned from the Federal Court of Appeal and returned to a law practice in Quebec. But it leaves open the possibility that the government won’t follow the advice of some law experts that Harper choose one of the other candidates short-listed last fall with Nadon.

Either way, Irwin Cotler urged the government to move quickly to "get a first-rate candidate for appointment to the Supreme Court."

In an interview with Global News on Tuesday, Nadon said he hasn't applied to the Quebec bar. He says Friday's decision ends the uncertainty he's been living with since October.

“It’s not a shock, but I mean it’s been going on for six months, so I’m a bit like a diver who’s been under water for too long. So I need to take some fresh air a bit, and breathe,” he told Global News.



CyberSmokeBlog: "Dummy, have Marc Nadon join the Quebec Bar for a day then reappoint him!"