PM names Thomas Cromwell to Supreme Court

Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service Published: Monday, December 22, 2008

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed the nomination Monday of Justice Thomas Cromwell to the Supreme Court of Canada, bypassing his plan to hold a public hearing on the process to give Canadians more insight into one of the most influential judges in the country.

Mr. Harper confirmed the appointment after announcing more than three months ago, on the eve of the federal election, that Mr. Cromwell was his pick for the top court, but that the appointment would not be finalized until after his public vetting.

Mr. Cromwell, a Nova Scotia Court of Appeal judge, replaces Michel Bastarache, who retired at the end of June.

The bench sat at a reduced strength all fall because the appointment was delayed by the Oct. 14 election and the early suspension of Parliament this month.

"The Supreme Court must have its full complement of nine judges in order to execute its vital constitutional mandate effectively," Mr. Harper said Monday in a news release.

The prime minister said on the eve of the September election call that Mr. Cromwell would face questioning by a parliamentary committee, a process the Conservatives put in place when they came to power in 2006 to bring more transparency to a process that critics contend has been shrouded in secrecy.

Justice Marshall Rothstein, appointed to the Supreme Court in March 2006, was the first judge to undergo public questioning.

The Constitution dictates the prime minister retains the final say on Supreme Court of Canada appointments.

When Mr. Harper nominated Mr. Cromwell on Sept. 5, the prime minister called off an all-party committee that had been screening potential contenders, saying the opposition members were not co-operating.

By convention, the government made its selection from a roster of Atlantic Canadian contenders to replace Bastarache, a New Brunswick francophone.

Mr. Cromwell, considered since last spring to be a front-runner for the job, is widely considered to be a legal centrist whose decisions defy typecasting.

In an unusual move, former prime minister Jean Chretien appointed Cromwell directly to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal in 1997. Unlike most appeal court judges, he did not sit on a lower court before being elevated to the province's highest court.

Harper said he personally consulted with the new leader of the Opposition, Michael Ignatieff, before making Mr. Cromwell's appointment official.

Citing the urgency of filling the eight-month vacancy on the Supreme Court as the reason for skipping the public process, mr. Harper said he would return in the future to "a formal mechanism through which Parliament can scrutinize future Supreme Court nominees."

The Supreme Court rightly exists above partisan politics and Canadians of all political persuasions will benefit from its return to a full complement of judges," Mr. Harper added.