Wong-Tam: Ford keeps eroding judicial independence by appointing Conservative insiders

QUEEN’S PARK – Official Opposition critic for Attorney General Kristyn Wong-Tam (Toronto Centre) has released the following statement in response to the latest patronage appointment made by the Ford government to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee (JAAC):

“Despite being mired in never-ending scandals, Ford’s Conservatives chose to appoint two former senior staff from the Premier’s office to the JAAC, raising serious concerns about the impartiality of the judicial appointment process. But the Premier made it very clear that his government has no shame in making partisan appointments to these roles.

“Under this government, we have seen our court system spiral into chaos. We have seen serious cases get thrown out because of double-bookings and lack of resources, survivors forced to re-live their trauma because of repeated delays. Instead of fixing the mess in our courts, the Attorney General is focused on using their majority to award partisan patronage appointments and erode people’s faith in our justice system."