Kirk Makin in The Globe and Mail:
The legal world is nervously eyeing the possibility of a Conservative government that red-circles lower-court judges who have a history of being receptive to the Charter in favour of judges who will further Tory political ideology.
Quick, get me Rewrite!
"The legal world is nervously eyeing the possibility of a Conservative government that red-circles lower-court judges who have a history of being receptive to a blood-soaked collectivist ideology in favour of judges who more strictly interpret their role as essentially deferential to the guidance of an elected Parliament."
Yeah, that works, too.
"We are likely to see more political debate and contestation about these two new judges than we have ever seen before," University of Toronto law professor Kent Roach said. "I think there is considerable nervousness in the legal establishment."[ . . . ]
"This is the first time in its 129-year history that the Supreme Court has been an election campaign issue," constitutional lawyer David Stratas said. "If Mr. Harper is too overt about this, there will be a whole host of people concerned about court-packing. Until now, Supreme Court appointments are seen to have been made entirely on merit. Court-packing is alien to our culture. It would backfire. " [emphasis added]
Mr. Stratas, meet Professor Anand:
Apprehension is doubly high among members of the legal establishment who harbour political aspirations, University of Alberta law professor Sanjeev Anand said. [emphasis added]
But . . but, how can this be? Are all those meritorious social engineers of the Law just a bunch of meretricious political hacks, after all?