Toews conduct probe on hold

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This article was published 06/09/2017 (2964 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An investigation into the conduct of Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Judge Vic Toews has been placed on hold while the former Harper government cabinet minister challenges a ruling by the federal ethics commissioner.

Johanna Laporte, director of communications and registry services with the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC), said Tuesday the council’s inquiry into a complaint against Toews is “in abeyance” until his legal challenge plays out in the courts.

“The issues that gave rise to the concerns about (Toews’) conduct are at the heart of his federal court action,” Laporte said in an interview from Ottawa.

She said there was nothing unusual about the CJC’s decision to suspend its investigation, “particularly when the issue that’s the subject of the complaint is being litigated.”

“It’s certainly not dropped,” she said of the CJC probe.

However, it’s now likely that the investigation will be delayed for some time.

In April, federal conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mary Dawson ruled that Toews violated the Conflict of Interest Act when he received money from two Manitoba First Nations, for consulting services he performed shortly after leaving federal office in July 2013.

He became a judge in 2014.

Days after her ruling, the CJC, a tribunal that investigates complaints against judges, announced it had opened a file on Toews and was reviewing his conduct. He continued to sit on the bench while the complaint was investigated. The complainant’s identity has not been released.

Toews challenged Dawson’s ruling in an application to the Federal Court of Appeal in May. His lawyer, Robert Tapper, said he expects to file legal arguments this fall.

A hearing could begin in January after the federal Justice Department responds.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of the advocacy group Democracy Watch, said the litigation could drag out for a long time. He believes Toews should have been suspended from his position on the bench until the complaint into his conduct was dealt with by the judicial council.

While a hearing may be held as early as January, it could take months for the Federal Court of Appeal to issue a ruling. The case could also drag on if either side were to appeal a decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Although Toews’s issue is with Dawson and her office, he has formally launched his suit against the attorney general (Jody Wilson-Raybould), since he is legally prevented from suing the federal tribunal over its ruling.

Conacher said this raises more ethical issues.

“I think it is a conflict of interest for (Department of) Justice lawyers to be defending the ethics commissioner’s rulings,” he said.

Dawson is supposed to be an independent officer of Parliament, Conacher said.

“She’s supposed to be the furthest away from government — (more) than any government agency is,” he added, “because she’s actually watching the government.”

Tapper said Toews is seeking a judicial review of the ethics commissioner’s ruling.

Toews has argued that Dawson’s findings were “inaccurate” and “inconsistent with the evidence” presented to her.

He also argues he was unable to respond properly to the accusations made against him because witnesses were barred by Dawson’s office from speaking to him.

Toews served as a member of Parliament for nearly 13 years and was in Stephen Harper’s cabinet for 71/2 years. He served as president of the treasury board and public safety minister, and also was Canada’s justice minister from February 2006 to January 2007.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca