Deliberate Disregard: Judicial Appointments under the Harper Government

This paper examines the apparent disregard of diversity in appointments by the federal government to the Canadian bench. It begins with an examination of the principal academic arguments supporting the claim that Canadians are entitled to a representative bench. After explaining the current federal appointments process, the paper goes on to examine patterns in three identity characteristics of recent appointees (gender, racialization and professional experience). The author concludes that the patterns suggest, at the least, a failure to pay attention to, and at the most, a deliberate disregard of, diversity. In her view, this is inconsistent with constitutional anti-discrimination norms, as well as with both the written and unwritten constitutional guarantee of an independent and impartial judiciary