Like a child who breaks his toys, Simon Jolin-Barrette throws them in the trash whenever he gets annoyed with the rules. It’s time this stopped.
The basic principle of a democracy is the rule of law.
The essential rule is that the law applies equally to all and therefore no one is above the law.
However, it’s a rule that Simon Jolin-Barrette keeps breaking.
Remember that Simon Jolin-Barrette did not join the Cabinet as Justice Secretary. In fact, he inherited that role when Legault looked for another runway for him after his immigration antics.
At the immigration service, Jolin-Barrette had only announced that he would throw thousands of legitimate files in the trash. The courts did not find this funny and immediately decided to overturn his unlawful decision.
Maybe that’s why he started disliking judges…
Warning signals
When Jolin-Barrette returned to justice, the confusion between him and the Quebec Chief Justice should normally have raised alarms in the offices of the Executive Council, François Legault’s ministry.
The excessive delays caused by his stubbornness risk sending thousands of prosecutions straight to the bin (again!) as a result of the Jordan decision, but Legault continued to support his minister.
Thanks to the intervention of former Deputy Attorney General and Court of Appeal Judge Jacques Chamberland, the stalemate was resolved and Jolin-Barrette’s interference finally rectified.
Suspicious appointments
Last week, Jolin-Barrette tried to withdraw funding from the Judiciary Council, which dared to challenge apparently unlawful provisions of a law it introduced.
The role and independence of the Judicial Council has been preserved by all governments and its right to set its budget has been respected.
Jolin-Barrette also wants to trash it because he’s frustrated at being challenged by the judges.
When it became known that Jolin-Barrette had appointed one of his friends as judge, the ethics commissioner immediately opened an investigation – so much the better!
But it’s the other case, involving the appointment of a judge at the Quebec Criminal and Criminal Court in Sept-Îles, that should grab our attention the most.
Jolin-Barrette always justifies that there is an independent body that proposes qualified persons for appointment as judges.
Guess what he did in this particular case with the recommendations of that committee? He threw the list of duly selected people in the trash (this is becoming a habit!).
In their place, he appointed someone: ignorant of the community (including a large indigenous population); who does not speak English (the language of many defendants); and who has little experience in criminal and criminal matters.
Legault has a duty to defend our democratic institutions.
Instead of driving the garbage truck, he has to free us from his irritated pastor. It’s urgent.
