But the accusation comes at an awkward moment for the Conservatives, amid renewed scrutiny of leadership contender Peter MacKay’s own record of eyebrow-raising judicial appointments when he was justice minister. A spokesman for Lametti said judges are chosen on merit and past political involvement is not relevant to the decision. “As with all Canadian citizens, judicial candidates are free to engage personally in political activities,” said Rachel Rappaport. “The appointments process neither disqualifies nor privileges an applicant on the basis of political association.”All candidates for judicial appointments are first evaluated by independent judicial advisory committees. The Trudeau government modified the judicial appointments process somewhat during its first mandate to make it more transparent and to give the advisory committees more independence.

Source: National Post February 07, 2020 22:07 UTC