Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made his pick to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. Thomas Cromwell, currently a judge at the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, is set to replace Justice Michel Bastarache, who retired in June.
In choosing Cromwell, Harper appears to have made an astute move. Justice Cromwell is being praised by just about everybody for his knowledge of the law, his analytical and writing skills, and his fluent bilingualism. The only dirt the Globe managed to dig up was from an anonymous legal academic who claimed that Cromwell “tends towards the conservative side, but is not by any means an extremist.”
But even as the selection was being praised, the selection process was being criticized.
The opposition was crying foul over Harper sidestepping an all-party advisory committee meant to provide the prime minister with a short list for the position. The NDP justice critic accused the Conservatives of pulling the plug on the process too soon and playing politics with the selection. The Conservatives in turn claimed that the committee wasn’t getting the job done because of opposition interference.
Newfoundland, meanwhile, was miffed that they were once again overlooked. There has never been a Supreme Court Justice from the province and Newfoundland Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy is quoted saying that Stephen Harper was treating the province “with disdain and disrespect.”
Cromwell will face a parliamentary committee after the election to make his selection is official.