OTTAWA — The Senate appears headed for a showdown with the government over legislation that would force federal judges to disclose their expenses publicly for the first time. On Wednesday, the Senate legal affairs committee adopted an amendment to Bill C-58 that would see judges’ expenses reported in aggregate by each court, rather than by individual judge. Judicial organizations have strongly protested the idea of requiring judges to disclose their expenses, arguing it puts judicial independence at risk and could see judges embarrassed by people intent on portraying their expenses in an unfair light. Currently, federal judges’ expenses are submitted to the office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs for approval for reimbursement — about 20,000 claims per year. In his own testimony, Commissioner Marc Giroux said that even if the government’s plan goes through, he is “leaning toward” applying the judicial independence exemption to travel expenses.

Source: National Post April 11, 2019 21:22 UTC