Canadian Lawyer

32 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m Smith, who retired as a B.C. Supreme Court judge in 2012, after 14 years on the bench. "It is important for judges to understand the community in which they live," she says. As well, in considering candidates for the judiciary, advisory committees should consider a broad range of factors, says Smith, in part because the job description has changed over the years. "The workload has increased and the cases that do have lawyers are truly complex. With self-represented litigants, you need a good deal of energy and stamina," she adds. Any changes to the appointment process should place importance on the role and the makeup of the advisory committees, says Smith, who was the first female dean at UBC law school, before she was appointed to the bench in 1998. "The committees have an important gatekeeper role. One way to enhance the credibility of the process is to make sure the advisory committees themselves are representative of our population," says Smith. One of the first things the former Conservative government did after taking office was to make changes to the structure of the advisory committee. A repre- sentative of law enforcement was added to each committee. As well, the federal government had an effective majority of members since the chair does not nor- mally vote. "Highly recommended" was also removed as a possible designation, leaving only "recommended" or "unable to recommend." Those changes in 2007 led to a public complaint from the Canadian Judicial Council about the lack of consultation and concerns over the perceived indepen- dence of these committees. In recent years, it has not been unusual for the justice minister to appoint individuals to the committees with clear ties to the Conservative party or publicly stated views on social issues that could be considered controver- sial. For example, the three federal government nominees for the Ontario "west and south" committee include a former Conservative candidate and anti-abortion activist, a Crown attorney who is also a teaching pastor at an evangelical church and the current director of a local Conservative riding association. While making it clear she is not commenting on any specific judicial advisory committee, Papageorgiou says it is important that there is diversity of background and life experience for any decision-making body. "Without diversity, you have a problem with unconscious bias and you are filtering out people who have already faced barriers [as lawyers]," she says. The study by Cairns Way noted that, in 2014, men made up 75 per cent of the members on advisory committees across Canada. That percentage is similar today; however, in a number of provinces, the advisory committees are not con- sidering applications because the terms of the previous members expired and the Liberals have yet to appoint replacements. B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba 2 31 50 30 32 25 40 24 0 0 0 7 The number of provinces with a female chief justice Percentage of female justices on the Quebec Court of Appeal Percentage of female justices on the Alberta Court of Appeal Percentage of female justices on the Federal Court of Canada Percentage of Superior Court judges in Ontario who are female Percentage of Court of Queen's Bench judges in Saskatchewan who are female Percentage of Court of Queen's Bench judges in Alberta who are female Percentage of all feder- ally appointed judges in Canada who are current- ly serving in a supernu- merary capacity Percentage of chief justices of a province with a family law background Percentage of judges on the Quebec Court of Appeal from a visible minority Percentage of judges on the B.C. Court of Appeal from a visible minority Percentage of judges on the Ontario Court of Appeal from a visible minority Percentage of chief justices of a province whose legal background was either as a litigator, corporate/ commercial or administrative law 100 Sources: Offi ce of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Aff airs, offi cial court web sites. All totals include supernumerary judges. Data is current as of August 1/16. "The committees have an important gatekeeper role. One way to enhance the credibility of the process is to make sure the advisory committees themselves are representative of our population." Lynn Smith, retired B.C. Supreme Court judge BY THE NUMBERS CANADIAN JUDICIARY-

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