Stephen Harper has passed over Newfoundland and Labrador as the source of a justice to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court of Canada. The appointment on Friday of Thomas Cromwell of Nova Scotia came just a few days before the election call.
Newfoundland and Labrador continues to be the only province in the federation never to have produced someone worthy of sitting on the Supreme Court of Canada, or at least that is the message being sent by Harper.
The other message is we will treat you with disdain for as long as we wish. You're only a minute piece of the puzzle. It is a reminder that we are to be punished at every turn for daring to stand up to Ottawa and challenge Harper's notion that we are a culture of defeat.
The Chronicle Herald reported that a Nova Scotia judge was primed to fill the vacancy back in late June. Why wait until the eve of the election to fill the vacancy? The answer is to wave another red flag to torment the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.
There were a number of good candidates from this province. It is not nationalism to say that of all the provinces we have never had someone appointed to the SCC. It is a fact. It is also a fact that we have qualified people for the role, so what gives? It is another snub and another slight by the Prime Minister.
I don't want to debate here whether Supreme Court seats should be regionally based, but I will disagree that Harper timed his appointment of Cromwell in order to play matador to Danny Williams' bull.
ReplyDeleteHe's avoided the inconvenient vetting of the appointment by an all-party selection committee. And we all know how Stephen Harper feels about parliamentary democracy.
Besides...I dislike and distrust Harper but I don' think that even he regards the Court as a mere tool with which to "torment" a premier or punish a province.
The other message is we will treat you with disdain for as long as we wish. You're only a minute piece of the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAha. So when Danny Williams said Labrador was "minute", that means he was treating Labrador with disdain.... right?
You support Danny... do you also have disdain for Labrador?