Canadian Lawyer

16 J a n u a r y 2 0 1 5 w w w . C a n a D I a n L a w y e r m a g . c o m 1. Marc Nadon failed to replace Morris Fish as a judge of the Supreme Court because: A) He told the parliamentary commit- tee considering his nomination that he was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings when he was 14. The closest Nadon got to the Red Wings was playing for the Saint-Jérôme Alouettes, a Junior A team whose midget affiliates were part of the Red Wings' farm team network. The prime minister, a hockey fan who has written a book on the sport called A Great Game and takes his hockey very seriously, was angered by Nadon's exag- geration of his hockey experience and withdrew the nomination. B) When Nadon was nominated, a dis- tinguished law professor at the University of Ottawa claimed that a forgotten 1927 amendment to the Supreme Court Act required a minimum of four female jus- tices, and the vacant seat would accord- ingly have to be filled by a woman. It turned out the professor had invented the amendment, but by the time this was discovered the Nadon appointment was derailed. C) Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin vetoed the appointment using inherent common law powers of a chief justice derived from Magna Carta (1215). D) It was discovered that the Supreme Court Act requires that a retiring Quebec lawyer (Morris Fish in this case) be replaced by another Quebec lawyer. It was deter- mined that, although Nadon was born in Quebec and practised law there for almost 20 years, he wasn't really a member of the Quebec bar. 2. Clément Gascon, who was appointed to fill what legal scholars at the University of Toronto now call the "Nadon seat": A) was a forward for the Montreal Canadiens in his youth and scored a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks in a 1984 game attended by a young Stephen Harper. Harper has been an admirer of Gascon ever since and wanted to advance his legal career. B) was Céline Dion's first husband. C) for 20 years was a partner at a Montreal-based national law firm that last year collapsed in a spectacular fashion. D) is Marc Nadon's best friend and in the summer plays golf with him every Saturday. 3. Who said, "The regulation of prostitution is a complex and delicate matter," and in what circumstances? A) Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, speaking for a unanimous court in Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford (December 2013), striking down Criminal Code provi- sions dealing with prostitution as contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. B) Minister of Justice Peter MacKay, introducing a new prostitution bill in the 've complained for years that we Canadians, including a lot of lawyers, don't pay enough attention to our Supreme Court. Americans fawn on their Supreme Court, treat the jus- tices like rock stars, hang on their every word, queue up overnight to get into hearings, endlessly debate the merits of possible candidates for appointment, and generally go gaga over SCOTUS. We, on the other hand, apart from a handful of professional SCC watch- ers in the lavish pay of newspapers or universities, channel Rhett Butler and murmur "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" if anyone mentions the Supreme Court of Canada. But you're the exception, right? You've been paying attention, right? You're a regular reader of Top Court Tales and know what's going on, right? Let's just see. Here is my first (and quite possibly last) Supreme Court of Canada pop quiz. Test your skill and knowledge. Did you actually pay attention to what happened at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2014? Well here's a test. By Philip Slayton Pop quiz t o p C o u rt ta L E s o p I n I o n @philipslayton I Dushan MIlIc

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