A judge facing a misconduct charge over his involvement with a black-advocacy group will not need to answer to allegations that he engaged in partisan political activity or improper fundraising.
Linda Rothstein, a lawyer presenting the Ontario Judicial Council’s case against Ontario Court Justice Donald McLeod, told a public disciplinary hearing on Friday that those allegations do not have merit.
The central allegation that remains is that Justice McLeod lobbied politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and publicly praised Mr. Trudeau (with whom he had his picture taken), thus harming the appearance of impartiality, and judicial independence from government.
Justice McLeod acknowledged at the hearing that his volunteer work on behalf of the Federation of Black Canadians, beginning in 2016, could be seen as lobbying. But as he saw it, it was an attempt to educate “power brokers” whose “missteps” were exacerbating problems in the black community.
“There are people who are literally dying in our community,” said Justice McLeod, who organized a community meeting that led to the founding of the Federation of Black Canadians, after the fatal shooting of Candice Bobb, a pregnant woman, in Toronto. (Her baby was delivered prematurely and died three weeks later.) “There are people who are being shot dead in the streets.”
A four-member panel chaired by Justice Robert Sharpe of the Ontario Court of Appeal is hearing the disciplinary case, after Associate Chief Justice Faith Finnestad of the Ontario Court of Justice filed a complaint with the judicial council. If found guilty, Justice McLeod could face a warning or suspension or a recommendation for dismissal. The hearing room, which held about 65 people, was filled with a largely black audience, and an overflow room was set up. The hearing continues next week.
Justice McLeod is the second judge this fall to face a misconduct charge over activities undertaken outside of a courtroom. Ontario Superior Court Justice Patrick Smith was accused by the Canadian Judicial Council of entering into a controversy when he took a leave to accept a temporary post as dean of a troubled northern Ontario law school. (Justice Smith was found to have done wrong, but the case was dropped without a hearing.)
Explaining how his group came to meet with Mr. Trudeau, Justice McLeod said the prime minister’s principal secretary, Gerald Butts, proposed it, because “we were giving him information he had not seen before.” The information included that 35 per cent of inmates at Collins Bay Penitentiary are black, although black people are roughly three per cent of Canada’s population, and that 40 per cent of black males drop out of high school.
Justice McLeod’s lawyer, Mark Sandler, asked him if he believed it was controversial for a judge to discuss mental-health concerns, which were among the topics discussed with the politicians. He replied that he did not see it that way.
But when Ms. Rothstein asked Justice McLeod if he was asking for anything from the politicians with whom his group met, he said yes – that the purpose of imparting knowledge to politicians is to seek changes in policy, and funding for programs.
Justice McLeod, who was appointed in 2013 by the provincial Liberals, was born to Jamaican-Canadian parents and lived in subsidized housing in Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood and Scarborough as he grew up. He said he had been behind in school, and would not have made it through university if other people in the community had not given him support – a tradition he said he tries to continue with others.
Mr. Sandler told the hearing that while he was not asking for a different standard of conduct for black judges, black judges such as Justice McLeod serve as role models and enhance public confidence in the judiciary.
Several judges from the Ontario Court and the Ontario Superior Court, Crown lawyers, defence lawyers and 32 black members of the Ontario bar wrote letters in support of Justice McLeod.
Sean Fine