Today, Douglas W. Judson, Chair of the Federation of Ontario Law Associations (FOLA), made the following statement in reaction to comments from Premier Doug Ford concerning the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee:
"The Premier's comments reflect a fundamental and juvenile misapprehension of the importance of an independent judiciary to our justice system and to upholding the rule of law.
"His words also set back much of the good work this government has done to modernize and improve the justice system in partnership with the courts and other legal stakeholders.
"Worse, his words cast aspersions on all of the meritorious appointments this government has made. It suggests that those individuals were in the bag for Doug Ford, and those appointees can't event respond to that suggestion.
"All of this undermines public confidence in the administration of justice in a dangerous and undemocratic way.
"By most accounts, Ontario has a very thoughtful and pragmatic Attorney General in Doug Downey. It is disappointing that the Premier has, once again, placed the Attorney General in a position of disrepute with the legal community and forced him to defend completely asinine and ignorant comments about the role of the judiciary in a mature democracy.
"As a legal community and a profession duty-bound to uphold the rule of law, we need to denounce aspersions like this when they are cast on the institutions of justice and the people that do the important work within them.
"The Premier's comments are irresponsible. They are harmful. And worse, they are contagious, and pull apart at the threads of our democracy in a misleading and dangerous way."
###
FOLA's statement can be viewed here.
Contact:
Douglas W. Judson
Chair
Federation of Ontario Law Associations
Email: info@douglasjudson.ca