Justice Department

Effort to suppress protocol “secrecy for secrecy’s sake,” court rules

Topics: 
Justice Department, RCMP, Government transparency, Government ethics
Rating: 
0
Suzanne Boudreau

Don Butler – April 25, 2013

The federal government’s attempts to suppress a legal protocol between the RCMP and the justice department amount to “secrecy for secrecy’s sake,” says the Federal Court of Appeal.

In a decision dated April 17, the court ruled that everything except the first three paragraphs of the 17-paragraph protocol should be disclosed to Ottawa resident Suzanne Boudreau, a former military prosecutor and justice department lawyer who first asked for it under access to information in 2006.

Court OKs $887M settlement for Canadian veterans

Topics: 
Justice Department, Veterans Affairs, Government ethics
Rating: 
3

Murray Brewster – April 4, 2013

The Federal Court of Canada has rubber-stamped an $887-million settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving thousands of disabled veterans. The case involved a three-decade-long federal government practice of clawing back the military pensions of injured soldiers by the amount of disability payments they received.

Halifax resident Dennis Manuge, a former army sergeant, was the lead plaintiff in the case, which dragged its way through the courts for nearly five years, including a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada on a technicality.

Government whistleblower just doing ‘the right thing’

Topics: 
Justice Department, Whistleblowers, Government ethics
Rating: 
5

Laura Stone – April , 2013

It used to be his cottage, but now Edgar Schmidt calls the three-storey white pine loft his home. The 60-year-old lawyer relocated to Val-des-Monts, Quebec in January, a month after he was suspended without pay from the Department of Justice for filing a lawsuit against his own employer.

The claim is one experts believe could have wide-ranging ramifications for both the public and whistle-blowing public servants. Schmidt alleges the department is failing to ensure that laws comply with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and under that test, the Minister of Justice does not have to inform Parliament of laws likely to be unconstitutional.

Feds ordered to pay legal costs for Justice Department whistleblower

Topics: 
Justice Department, Whistleblowers, Government ethics
Rating: 
5
Edgar Schmidt

Douglas Quan – March 8, 2013

In a novel move cheered by whistleblower advocates, a judge in Ottawa on Friday ordered the federal government to cover the legal expenses of a Department of Justice lawyer who filed a lawsuit against his own department.

Edgar Schmidt, who was suspended without pay after filing his claim in December, asserts in court documents that the government has failed to live up to its obligations to ensure that new legislation complies with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

When Transparency Can Hurt Democracy: Rebuttal

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics
Rating: 
4

Letters to the Editor – March 4, 2013

Samuel Mosonyi’s attempt to rationalize the Justice Department’s allegedly illegal actions (When Transparency Can Hurt Democracy, February 27) is absurd beyond words.

He argues that any signal that a new bill may violate the Charter would ‘kill it’ and thus bureaucrats (Justice Department lawyers) would be determining what laws are passed – rather than our democratically elected representatives.

When Transparency Can Hurt Democracy

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics
Rating: 
4

Samuel Mosonyi – February 27, 2013

A Department of Justice lawyer, Edgar Schmidt, recently challenged his employer in court, alleging that the process that the Department uses to analyze whether proposed legislation is in accordance with the Charter is against the law.

Schmidt alleges in his claim that since 1993, the Department of Justice has not been informing the Minister about potential Charter inconsistencies as long as “some argument can reasonably be made in favour of its consistency – even if all arguments in favour of consistency have a combined likelihood of success of 5% or less.”

Justice department whistleblower on a crusade to sustain the rule of law

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
5
Edgar Schmidt

Kirk Makin – February 23, 2013

Somebody had to blow the whistle on the federal Department of Justice, Edgar Schmidt believed. And he decided the best candidate was him.

“As a fairly senior person toward the end of his career, it fell to me,” said Mr. Schmidt, who launched a legal action last month accusing his department of short-circuiting a legal requirement that new laws be vetted to see whether they comply with guarantees in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Whistleblower group files complaint with Canadian Bar Association against Justice Canada

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Professional ethics
Rating: 
5

February 8, 2013

Canadians for Accountability has filed a complaint with the Canadian Bar Association, arguing that the federal government is requiring its lawyers to violate their moral and ethical obligations and requesting that it conduct an investigation into this matter.

The complaint arises from the suspension of Justice Canada lawyer Edgar Schmidt, who argued that the department was failing to provide Parliament with a full and proper assessment when proposed laws might breach the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Is Ottawa losing another crucial whistleblower?

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
0
Edgar Schmidt

Errol Mendes – January 23, 2013

Kevin Page, the first Parliamentary Budget Officer, will soon lose his job as a key protector of Canadian taxpayers’ monies. He is certain not to be reappointed by Stephen Harper when his term ends in March, even though he has been lauded for his warning about major financial mismanagement and misinformation by the government. Mr. Page stood his ground, even while he was fiercely attacked by Conservatives who claimed he was wrong on many key issues - such as the cost of the F35 fighter jets.

Now, a second brave public servant’s job is in danger for warning about how the 1982 Charter and the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights are potentially being undermined by the Department of Justice.

Trouble brewing at Justice Canada

Topics: 
Justice Department, Government ethics, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
0

Glenn Kauth – January 21, 2013

In a sign of potential discord at the federal Justice Department, a government lawyer has gone to court over his employer’s duty to inform Parliament of legislation that may violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

According to The Globe and Mail, the lawyer, Edgar Schmidt, is challenging the government over the interpretation of that duty. He argues the test for informing Parliament is “whether, on balance, a measure is likely not in compliance,” the Globe reported last week. But according to Schmidt, the practice has been to approve measures with a five-per-cent chance of success.

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