Judicial moves currently made 'among friends,' Liberal suggests

A Liberal cabinet minister has injected a new element into the debate over judicial independence, suggesting a Conservative-appointed justice is angling for a move to Moncton, and that the chief justice of the Court of Queen's Bench could give it to her.

Donald Arseneault made the provocative comments about judicial moves "among friends" during a debate on Bill 21 on Wednesday.

It would give the Justice minister a veto over Chief Justice David Smith moving Queen's Bench justices from court to court.

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives and Green Party both say the bill is unconstitutional because it would violate the independence of the courts. A government could use its veto to punish a justice who made decisions it didn't like, they say.

They also dispute Liberal assertions that there's been a "revolving door" of judges being appointed then moved, mostly from northern New Brunswick to the south.

Arseneault responded by reading from a list of 13 judges Smith has moved over the years, many of them Conservative appointees, several of whom were transferred to Moncton.

"He's been moving a lot of people around," Arseneault said. "Who's probably next? Who's looking to go to Moncton? One that just got named in Saint John, Marie-Claude Blais."

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Blais is a former PC cabinet minister from Moncton who was appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench in Saint John last year by the Harper government.

Under the existing law, Smith could move her to Moncton on his own, without the government's approval. But the new bill would give the Liberals the power to block that.

"She's probably looking to move to Moncton too," Arseneault said of Blais, "and of course, amongst friends, if we did it 13 times, we could surely do it 14 times."

PC MLA Jody Carr wouldn't speculate on what Arseneault meant by "among friends" or whether the minister was accusing the chief justice of favouritism toward Conservative appointees.

"I can't ever get into the brain of Donald Arseneault," Carr said.

But he said the comments show exactly why Bill 21 would violate judicial independence.

"He proves the point of what's been expressed, that now Donald Arseneault will choose who gets to move as a judge and who doesn't get to move. Based on what reasons, [it's] unclear."

Premier determined to see bill pass in June

Bill 21 was set to pass third reading in the legislature on Wednesday, the last step to it becoming law before royal assent from the lieutenant-governor.

But Green Party Leader David Coon used a seldom-seen procedural move to try to amend the third-reading motion. That prompted the extra debate where Arseneault made his comments.

Arseneault argued that "three or four" other provinces, including Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, have laws giving the government the power to move judges.

The government adjourned the debate on Coon's motion without a vote, which means the bill still hasn't passed.

But Premier Brian Gallant said Wednesday he's determined to have the bill pass before the legislature adjourns for the summer. Gallant told reporters the house will return in June to get any outstanding legislation through.

"With the extra weeks we'll be in a good position to pass all of the bills we're presenting, including Bill 21," he said.

Smith released a written statement earlier this year saying he is worried the bill would infringe on his independence, and his lawyer Michael Bray said recently that "some options [are] being looked at" to challenge the law if it passes.

The Law Society of New Brunswick has also questioned the bill, and said it was not aware of any problems with judges being moved that needed to be fixed by legislation.