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Page 6 OCTOBeR 26, 2015 • LaW TIMeS www.lawtimesnews.com COMMENT More disclosure needed he battle for the disclosure of the full details of the case against Ontario Court Justice John Ritchie clearly put the Ontario Judicial Council in a conundrum. On the one hand, it faced the need to preserve judicial in- dependence and the legitimate imperative to maintain a level of confidentiality around complaints that, in its view, don't merit a full hearing. On the other hand, some details about the complaint against Ritchie had already become public last year. And with the judge being a lightning rod for complaints by defence lawyers for some time, there were significant concerns about the need for accountability. In this case, the council decided earlier this month in favour of dis- closing the Criminal Lawyers' Association's complaint about Ritchie as well as the disposition letter in the case (subject to a 30-day delay to allow Ritchie to pursue legal remedies if he chooses). But it ruled against disclosing further details, including the findings of a subcom- mittee and review panel, any directives and recommendations by the chief justice, and reports on educational and remedial programs taken by Ritchie. The decision has provoked understandable concern from defence lawyers given their complaints that Ritchie routinely and un- fairly, in their view, rules against their clients. Unfortunately, there's no easy answer in this case given the review council's comments about judicial independence in its decision this month: "Constitutional guarantees of judicial independence include security of tenure and the freedom to speak and deliver judgment free from external pressures and inf luences of any kind. A system of accountability for judicial conduct must provide for accountability, yet at the same time guard against any risk of infringement of the Wynne hoping for political payback from Trudeau remier Kathleen Wynne was all smiles the morning after the night before. Fresh off the phone with incom- ing prime minister Justin Trudeau, she was radiant. Wynne, who actively cam- paigned for and endorsed Trudeau, is in the pole position in terms of federal-pro- vincial relations. He owes her big time and she needs all the help she can get. "Canadians gave us the real partner we need with the same priorities and same values," she gushed. "At every level of gov- ernment, we can work on common goals." It was no secret that Wynne and out- going Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a fractious relationship due in large part to her partisanship and constant demand for more federal funding while borrowing left and right. The Conserva- tives told her to get her house in order before coming to them for more money and she bristled at the pushback. She was quick to go on the offensive to not just slam Harper during the federal campaign but also to slight NDP Leader Tom Mulcair in the initial period while his party was ascendant. There may be a small issue of the elec- tion rules and whether the Liberals should account for the cost of having the premier of Ontario and her entourage as guests on the campaign trail and the podium. In the meantime, the victors are al- ready divvying up the spoils. Wynne denies she has ta- bled her wish list with the na- scent prime minister but she doesn't have to. Wynne needs a lot of money. Enter Trudeau, a leader who's willing to break the federal budget and heap up to $30 billion onto the $612.8-billon national debt over his first three years in office and only balance the budget by 2019-20. Between that debt and current accounts, Trudeau says he'll spend $125 billion on infrastructure projects that drive jobs in three key areas: transit, affordable and seniors housing, and clean energy infrastructure. With $130 billion committed to transit infrastructure over the next decade and provincial coffers tapped out, the Liberals have been desperately searching for fund- ing sources and stooping to new lows. The need is palpable. Servicing the province's massive debt at a cost of $11.4 billion annually is the third-largest bud- get item after health care and education. Even more worrying is the debt-to-GDP ratio of almost 40 per cent. The government has been rummaging through the pockets of the recently deceased, demanded back payment for incorrectly cal- culated provincial taxes on a handful of used-car sales, and announced a carbon tax scheme. Now, the Liberals are ey- ing not just the federal gov- ernment's largesse but changes to lock in new revenue regimes. With Trudeau on board for a carbon tax scheme, it's prob- able that Ontario and Quebec's f ledging collaboration will open the door for the federal government to join an arrange- ment similar to the harmonized sales tax. Where Harper rebuffed pressure from Wynne on pension reforms, Trudeau has promised to step up. He has promised to roll back eligibility for old-age security to age 65 and start talks with the provinces on pension reforms by the spring. Pension reform, however, can't come fast enough for Wynne despite the cost of creating a provincial plan. "Justin Trudeau cannot alone en- hance the Canada Pension Plan; he has to work with all the provinces," said Wynne, noting she would continue with the Ontario pension plan until the gov- ernments reach an agreement. The only point of friction could be the legalization of marijuana. Aside from ad- mitting she smoked weed "35 years" ago, Wynne has been careful in her position. It's for good reason. Taking cannabis out of the Criminal Code would push the attendant issues, such as road and work- place safety, onto the provinces along with unknown but probably increased health- care costs. Wynne, who has stalled on selling beer in corner stores, will proceed slowly and cautiously on that issue despite the lure of money on the table. "I think that it is one of those issues whose time has come in terms of a na- tional discussion," she said. But her words were code for: "As soon as we figure out how to tax it and share the revenue." LT Ian Harvey has been a journalist for more than 35 years writing about a di- verse range of issues including legal and political affairs. His e-mail address is ian- harvey@rogers.com. ©2015 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. 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As the CLA and the Toronto Star argued in their challenge of the confidentiality or- der, the statutory framework does provide the coun- cil with discretion around disclosure. While it did exercise that discretion to a limited degree in this case, the fact that the Ritchie matter has already become public and the significant concerns raised by defence lawyers about his rulings tip the balance toward allowing for further disclosure. The fact that the review council issues an annual report with bare-bones details on complaints that don't proceed to a public hearing isn't good enough. Lawyers and the public need to know more in order to be sure the review council considered the concerns in full and took appropriate action. LT P Queen's Park Ian Harvey T

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