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It's been painfully obvious that judges in Canada are far-left leaning for many years now. That's why Canada's criminal justice system is so criminal-friendly and victim-dismissive.
Trudeau’s law society: Exclusive data analysis reveals Liberals
appoint judges who are party donors
It’s no coincidence that more judges who donate to the Liberal party
are brought to the bench than Conservative donors
Author of the article: Kate Schneider, Christopher Nardi
Published Aug 09, 2023 • 11 minute read
Justice statue at Supreme Court of Canada
Donating Judges is a series of articles examining the politicization of federal appointments to Canada’s courts and tribunals. It is the result of an eight-month data analysis investigation by the National Post and the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF), with reporters Christopher Nardi of the Post and the IJF’s Kate Schneider.
In late June, human rights lawyer Yavar Hameed filed a lawsuit asking the Federal Court to order the prime minister and justice minister to fill nearly 80 judge vacancies across provincial superior courts. Judicial vacancies have caused significant and growing court delays, which have “harmed” his vulnerable clients, Hameed said in his lawsuit.
Just weeks before, Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote Justin Trudeau urging him to fill the “untenable” superior court vacancies. “The government’s inertia regarding vacancies and the absence of satisfactory explanations for these delays are disconcerting,” he wrote in a letter obtained by Radio-Canada.
Amid rising calls for the federal government to urgently fill judicial vacancies, court watchers are also pressing the government to reduce partisanship and be more transparent about who they are appointing to Canada’s courts. “These long delays are symptomatic of the politicization of appointments, in the partisan and ideological sense of the term,” Patrick Taillon, professor of constitutional law at Université Laval, said in an email.
An eight-month investigation by National Post and the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) of 1,308 judicial and tribunal appointments by the Liberal government since 2016 shows an overwhelming majority — 76.3 per cent — of appointees who had previously made political donations had given to the Liberal Party of Canada.
In comparison, just 22.9 per cent of appointees had given to the Conservative Party of Canada, and 17.9 per cent of those who donated gave to the New Democratic Party. Moreover, the number of Conservative donors appointed to the judiciary has dropped significantly since the Liberals came to power, whereas the number of NDP donors more than doubled between 2016 and 2022, the year the NDP entered an agreement to support the Liberals.
And the High Courts drift ever-so-rapidly to the far-left.
Judicial appointments in the Trudeau era were matched against Elections Canada’s political donations database. Matches were reviewed multiple times for accuracy before the data were provided to each court or tribunal for review by the members in question.
The findings raise serious questions about the politicization of the judicial appointment process by a Liberal government that doggedly criticized the previous Conservative government on the issue and promised reforms in 2016. Legal scholars say partisanship within the judicial appointment process not only constrains the diversity of the judiciary and undermines the public’s confidence in the country’s legal system, it also brings political influence into decisions made by Canada’s courts.
“We continue to have this challenge of partisan affiliation in those who are getting appointed,” said Erin Crandall, associate professor of political science at Acadia University who has published extensively on Canada’s judicial appointment processes.
“The concern, I think in 2023, is not so much the quality of the judges that are being appointed. I think there’s a general consensus that those who get appointed to the bench are meritorious, well-qualified and capable of doing the job. The real challenge is the perception of the partisan relationship,” Crandall said.
Canada’s Supreme Court justices in Ottawa, on Monday, Nov. 28, 2022.
PHOTO BY THE CANADIAN PRESS/SEAN KILPATRICK
or
The Supreme Court at their Santa Clause Party
There is much more to this story in the National Post
Fighting corruption in Central and South America can get you killed
A video circulating on social media shows the moment Ecuador's presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was fatally shot in Quito, the country's capital, only 10 days before the vote.
The footage shows Villavicencio leaving a campaign event in Quito surrounded by security guards. They move towards a car as the crowd shouts his name, claps, and cheers. But as he takes his seat inside the vehicle and the car door is closing behind him, shots are fired in his direction.
The clip shows people screaming, ducking around the car and trying to find cover.
Villacencio, a 59-year-old former journalist and former Assembly member, was one of eight candidates running for the country's top role on August 20, representing the Build Ecuador Movement. He was a prominent anti-corruption figure who had been outspoken about condemning the ties between crime and politics in the country.
As a journalist, he was a vocal critic of former President Rafael Correa, according to media reports, and was once accused of defamation against him. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the crime but fled to Ecuador's Indigenous territory in 2014 and was given asylum in Peru in 2017, according to Reuters.
People take cover after shots were fired at the end of a rally for Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio
in Quito, on August 9.
STRINGER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Villavicencio was transported to a nearby clinic after being hit several times but did not survive the attack, according to media reports citing National Police General Manuel Iñiguez.
His death was confirmed by Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso. Just before 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Lasso posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, to say he was "outraged and shocked by the assassination." He added that the "crime will not go unpunished."
Villavicencio leaves behind his wife and five children.
Fernando Villavicencio speaks to journalists on his arrival at the Attorney General's Office in Quito on August 8.
He was killed a day later.
RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A police shootout followed Villavicencio's assassination and one suspect died from the injuries sustained. Authorities said six people had been arrested.
At least nine people, including a candidate for the legislature and two police officers, were injured in the attack, Reuters reported.
Violent crime, especially gang-related violence, has become rampant in the South American nation, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The think tank added that the situation had been exacerbated by the country's political instability.
In his social media post, President Lasso appeared to blame Villavicencio's death on "organized crime," which he said "has come a long way, but the full weight of the law is going to fall on them."
Good luck with that!
U.S. sanctions former Lebanon central bank governor
for international corruption scheme
By Doug Cunningham
The U.S. Treasury Department Thursday sanctioned former Lebanon Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh (C), alleging he and co-conspirators operated an international corruption scheme that funneled millions of dollars from bank transactions through shell companies around the world.
Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA-EFE
Aug. 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned Riad Salameh, the former governor of Lebanon's Central Bank, for alleged corrupt and unlawful actions contributing to the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon.
Salameh allegedly abused his position of power to enrich himself and associates by diverting roughly $330 million from Banque du Liban transactions with the assistance of his brother Raja's company Forry Associates.
Millions of dollars were then put through shell companies investing in European real estate.
The money moving through Raja Salameh's shell company in the British Virgin Islands was later moved to accounts in Riad and Raja Salameh's own names, according to the Treasury Department.
"By using his position to enrich himself, his family, and his associates in apparent contravention of Lebanese law, Salameh contributed to Lebanon's endemic corruption and perpetuated the perception that elites in Lebanon need not abide by the same rules that apply to all Lebanese people," Brian E. Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.
Treasury said Salameh approved a contract that allowed his brother's company to take a commission on the central bank's purchase of financial instruments even though that company provided no apparent benefit to the bank.
Britain and Canada are also sanctioning Salameh, according to the Treasury Department.
The U.S. sanctions don't apply to the Banque du Liban or the bank's correspondent bank relationships.
Salameh, Treasury said, is connected to numerous shell companies and bank accounts in Europe and the Caribbean.
The Treasury Department said some of the diverted bank funds were transferred to several property management companies in France, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium registered in the names of Salameh's son Nady Salameh or former Salameh partner Anna Kosakova.
Salameh stepped down from his position at Lebanon's central bank in July, after being blamed for a financial crisis that melted down Lebanon's economy amid high inflation.
He's being investigated by at least seven countries, including Lebanon, for embezzlement and illegal enrichment. Germany and France have issued arrest warrants and seized some of Salameh's assets.
Salameh has denied allegations that he laundered over $300 million in money from bank transactions.
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