Roundup: Ford bringing back 1890s patronage

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Ontario premier Doug Ford made a rousing defence for his appointing two former senior staffers onto the committee tasked with appointing provincial judges, saying that it’s “democracy” for him to make “like-minded” appointments, which is like a throwback to the 1890s. It’s very true that control of patronage was one of the key reasons why Responsible Government happened in the Canadian colonies back in the 1840s, but there has been a move over decades to professionalise and de-politicise, most especially with the judiciary, and when Ford is talking about needing to appoint his people so that he can get “tough” judges and justices of the peace on the bench, that’s a warning sign that he is backsliding on democratic norms (and he has had a history of very partisan patronage appointments since the very beginning of his government). It’s not that Ford has any particular coherent ideology other than he thinks that locking people up and throwing away the key will please voters, Charter rights, or the presumption of innocence be damned.

https://twitter.com/dwjudson/status/1761064514298986702

This kind of talk undermines the justice system, because it leaves the impression that judges are acting in partisan ways, or who were appointed because of partisan leanings, which is not a feature in the Canadian legal system. And the point Judson made about contagion is because there are people on the political right who feel that they can move the goalposts of what is acceptable for political interference in institutions that should be impartial or independent—and that is a very, very big problem at a time when the political right is undermining whatever institutions they can. It’s a key feature of Orbánism, coming out of Hungary, which the right in America and Canada keeps lapping up. That’s incredibly damaging, and it needs to be called out when it happens, even if Ford isn’t doing this for the sake of becoming like Orbán, but for his own populist ends.

https://twitter.com/dwjudson/status/1761228183674712200

Meanwhile, as an example of premiers politicizing the judiciary, Quebec premier François Legault is attacking the Quebec Court of Appeal as being federally-appointed after they handed him his ass on his attempt to prevent asylum-seekers from accessing the subsidised child care system. Part of this was blasting the Parti Québécois for agreeing with the decision, accusing their leader of “prostrating himself before Ottawa.” That said, Legault is appealing the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, which is also federally-appointed, so I’m not sure why this will be any different if his logic holds. Unsurprisingly, the Quebec bar association is denouncing this, but this is exactly the kind of contagion being referred to with Ford’s comments, and how they undermine confidence in the justice system. Legault is doing it for his own purposes, and it’s a problem just as much as Ford’s comments.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russians launched another drone attack against Odesa, which hit a residential building and killed one person and injured another three. Russians are also claiming that they are pushing further west after security Avdiivka. Ukraine took out one of Russia’s early warning aircraft, which is part of their air defences and of which they have very few remaining. Four Western leaders including Justin Trudeau have arrived in Kyiv to show solidarity as the war enters its third year. Ukrainian officials have launched investigations into 122,000 suspected war crimes since the beginning of the invasion, and 511 perpetrators have been identified to date. Meanwhile, Russia has been cranking up its production and refurbishment of old equipment, but there are questions as to whether quantity can outdo quality.

Good reads:

  • For the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Justin Trudeau reiterates that Canada is with Ukraine for the long haul, but there are questions about timeliness.
  • A deal has allegedly been reached around the pharmacare framework legislation that will also include free diabetes medication and contraception.
  • The fiscal monitor shows that the federal government ran a deficit of $23.6 billion for the first nine months of the fiscal year.
  • The federal government has reached an agreement to partner with Manitoba to spend $60 million to refurbish the rail line to Churchill, and the port there.
  • The federal government has filed their appeal of the Federal Court judgment about the Emergencies Act invocation.
  • The federal government sanctioned ten more Russian officials and businessmen.
  • The Information Commissioner has launched an investigation into allegations that CBSA officials deleted ArriveCan records.
  • The RCMP has been under an “alarming” cyberattack.
  • Justice Hogue says that the federal government needs to convince her that evidence needs to be heard behind closed doors, and if they can’t, it’ll be made public.
  • Patricia Treble looks to history to examine the King’s options for the dwindling number of working royals in the near term.
  • My weekend column looks at the kinds of false hopes and overhyped expectations that will follow next week’s tabling of pharmacare “framework” legislation.

Odds and Ends:

https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/1761148934813360601

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Ford bringing back 1890s patronage”

  1. It’s a key feature of Orbánism, coming out of Hungary, which the right in America and Canada keeps lapping up.

    I disagree. Doug is simply imitating, as best he can, US practice where Federal judicial appointments have been blatantly political for decades.

    Orbàn may be doing it but he is not influencing the USA or Doug. He may be patterning himself on the USA’s example.

    • American conservatives have been salivating over Orbán’s example for years now. DeSantis patterned his “Don’t say gay” bill after Orbán’s. I didn’t connect Ford to Orbán, I was referring to the broader pattern.

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