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OPINION far from clear), they are not met in spirit or politically. Wouldn't it have been much better to elevate one of the highly regarded judges of the 26-person Quebec Court of Appeal — Justice Marie-France Bich, perhaps, or Chief Justice Nicole Duval Hesler, say, or Justice France Thibault? The second objection to Nadon's appointment is it insults women. Until recently, there were four women on the Supreme Court, and a lot of people took a good deal of satisfaction from that. When justice Marie Deschamps resigned in 2012, Stephen Harper replaced her with Justice Richard Wagner, reducing the number of women to three. This upset a lot of people (including Deschamps), but they comforted themselves by saying, "Oh well, it'll be fixed next time." Replacing Fish was the next time, and it wasn't fixed. It's not as if there weren't impressive female candidates. You might have noticed all of the three esteemed Quebec Court of Appeal judges I mention above are women. Third, the appointment was extraordinarily inept, legally and technically, creating a constitutional debacle. The government knew there were s. 6 problems. It sought an opinion on Nadon's eligibility from former SCC justice Ian Binnie, and from another former top court judge, Louise Charron, and constitutional guru professor Peter Hogg. They gave the green light. But the government should have checked with Toronto lawyer and well-known troublemaker Rocco Galati. Following Nadon's appointment, Galati promptly argued the government is "trying to open the back door to stack the court with Federal Court judges," challenging the appointment in Federal Court while setting off a firestorm. The federal government quickly referred the legitimacy of the Nadon appointment to the Supreme Court (and then Justice Marshall Rothstein, a former Federal Court judge, recused himself from those hearings). In the meantime, Nadon was barred from his office and the court building. That meant the Senate constitutional reference, one of the most important cases of recent years and of particular interest to Quebec, had to be heard by an eight-person court with only two Quebec judges sitting. A seething Quebec National Assembly passed a motion affirming a strict interpretation of s. 6. Trying to shut the barn door after the horse disappeared down Wellington Street, the government set about to amend the Supreme Court Act to explicitly allow the appointment of Federal Court judges. That creates a whole new problem. Experts disagree on whether such an amendment (or "clarification," as the feds call it) would change the composition of the court. If the answer is yes, an amendment to the Constitution of Canada may be required. Could it be any worse? The lesson is the system of appointments to the Supreme Court is hopelessly broken. Many have been saying this for some time. The biggest problem is there is no opportunity for careful public consideration of a potential appointee by all interested parties, including the public. The prime minister just does what he feels like. And look what happens when he does. Philip Slayton is president of PEN Canada, an organization of writers that protects and promotes freedom of expression. Follow him on Twitter @philipslayton. CLE EVENTS DESIGNED FOR LAW FIRMS AND CORPORATIONS West LegalEdcenter® is the leading provider of CLE events for the legal industry. Below you'll find upcoming live conferences that might be of interest to you and your team. You can register for yourself and any members of your department. 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