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opinion Supreme Court appear blind to the his- torical and legal importance of the law clerk experience, and in particular the way in which law professors who have been clerks use that experience in their teaching and writing. For example, Lorne Sossin, a respected law professor at the University of Toronto, who was clerk to chief justice Antonio Lamer from 1992 to 1993, published a law review article in 1996 called "Th e Sounds of Silence: Law Clerks, Policy Making and the Supreme Court of Canada." What about Justice Robert Sharpe, now a judge on the Ontario Court of Appeal, or Kent Roach, another Univer- sity of Toronto law professor? Sharpe was executive legal offi cer at the court (the job now held by Copeland) from 1988 to 1990 when Brian Dickson was chief justice; Roach was law clerk to justice Bertha Wilson from 1988 to 1989. Sharpe and Roach co-authored a 2003 biogra- phy of Dickson, which describes much of what went on behind closed doors, and includes several pages describing the role of clerks. Can anyone seriously maintain that Messrs. Sossin, Sharpe, and Roach, in the valuable work they have done, vio- lated confi dentiality obligations? Does the Supreme Court intend to ask the law society to investigate Sossin and Roach for ethical breaches, and will it complain to the Canadian Judicial Council about Justice Sharpe? I don't think so. In that case, exactly what is Ms. Copeland's e-mail all about? In the United States, Supreme Court law clerks (and others insiders, includ- ing judges) have almost routinely shared at least some of their experiences. Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong, who published their famous book Th e Breth- ren in 1979 (it's still in print), interviewed about 170 clerks. Jeff rey Toobin, for Th e Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, published in 2007, spoke to about 75 of them. Weiden's Sorcerers' Apprentices was based in part on inter- views and written surveys of 150 former clerks. For another recent American book about law clerks, Courtiers of the Marble Palace: Th e Rise and Infl uence of the Supreme Court Law Clerk, author Todd Peppers, relied on "an endless number of former law clerks who took the time to talk repeatedly with me about their clerkship experience and complete my surveys." Th ese books and others like them have contributed to popular and scholarly understanding of the U.S. Supreme Court. It's hard to understand why the Supreme Court of Canada reacted the way it did in the Weiden aff air. Every- one understands that some things must remain confi dential; no one is advocat- ing unrestrained tattling by those who were in the inner sanctum. But, to argue that because some things should not be known then nothing should be known, is to reason in a way that a fi rst-year philos- ophy student would fi nd embarrassing. Perhaps the problem is that the court's attitudes have not kept pace with its powers. Since the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Supreme Court has been a vital part of the government of Canada. It makes important policy decisions all the time, despite pro forma protestations to the contrary. Secrecy surrounding government institutions that determine policy is not a good companion of democracy. Openness is — or should be — part of the price you pay for power. It's not like the old days, when Supreme Court judges embraced and enjoyed a remoteness and mystique will- ingly tolerated by a respectful citizenry. Lack of openness didn't really matter when any case involving more than $10,000 could be appealed as of right to the court (before the 1975 jurisdictional reforms) and most of the court's work was settling individual disputes of little or no general signifi cance. But now, par- ticularly with decline in the power and reputation of parliament, the Supreme Court stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the executive as a major branch of gov- ernment. We're entitled to know as much about it as possible. Philip Slayton has been dean of a law school and senior partner of a major Canadian law fi rm. Visit him online at philipslayton.com British Columbia Annual Criminal Practice 2010 Edition The Honourable Mr. Justice John C. Bouck, Ravi Hira, Q.C., The Honourable Mr. Justice William F. 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