This article was first published by GuelphToday, a Village Media publication.
A retired Guelph judge says he agrees with Premier Doug Ford’s assertion to collect stats on bail set up by judges and justices of the peace in Ontario courtrooms.
But in that, Norm Douglas adds the premier should be careful who he gets his information from.
It comes after Ford commented Monday that stats will be collected on bail granted by judges and justices of the peace in Ontario. In the same breath, he added judges and justices will “be held accountable for the decisions they make.”
Douglas takes no issue with collecting stats from the judicial system.
“I think he would find if he did collect statistics how difficult a job that we have,” he said, adding many prosecutors would welcome the data collection.
The “accountable” portion of Ford’s comment wasn’t really expanded upon by the premier.
Douglas said judges and justices – and the decisions they make – are already held to account, from courts of appeal and judicial councils.
“You don’t say ‘well the judge has the final say,’” he said. “I was a judge for 27 and a half years. I never had the final say once. I had the final say that day. I wrote the ending to the (cases) that were happening in front of me that day, but I always knew that somebody could appeal this if I was wrong,”
He added judges can be commanded to appear before the judicial council if they went “off the deep end, if they do something stupid.”
All that to add Douglas expressed caution that we don’t mix political influence into the justice system in Canada.
“When you start dabbling with the judicial system, you want to be very careful that you have your facts straight and that you don’t change the system based on what you’re hearing on the street,” he said.
“That’s why we have checks and balances in our system. We have the executive branch, and we have the judicial branch and they are separate, and we keep them separate, and thankful that they still are because judges and justices of the peace can’t be looking over their shoulders as ‘gee I hope the politicians like this decision.’”
He said he has no problem with Ford. Douglas went further and said Ford is a good guy. But he believes Ford is misinformed and needs better advice.
"If that's where your getting your information to form policy, because of what you're hearing on the streets, heaven help us because what you hear on the streets isn't always accurate or true, it's very subjective," Douglas said.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association flagged Ford's comments immediately.
"The prospect of any politician suggesting that judicial officials will be subject to discipline or sanction if they interpret or apply the Charter in a way a politician dislikes is an unacceptable and dangerous attack on judicial independence, the constitution, and the rule of law," Shakir Rahim, the director of the CCLA's criminal justice program, told The Trillium in an emailed statement.
Guelph mayor Cam Guthrie has been outspoken about the amount of reports from law enforcement about someone being arrested and charged with breaching probation.
He said it is a problem, pointing out the federal government recognizes it too because it made reforms at the beginning of this year.
“Raising that concern is not the issue for me,” Guthrie said. “But – and it’s a big but – there has to be a division between allowing the court system and the justice system to also play its role.”
He said speaking out is as far as he would take it, and doesn’t subscribe to the thought of political interference in Canada’s justice system.
