An Ontario Superior Court judge is facing removal from the bench basically because he’s not Indigenous. Smith took the job only after asking for and getting the blessing of his own chief justice, Heather Smith (the two are not related), and of federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, the country’s first Indigenous justice minister. The Lakehead law faculty was founded only in 2013, with a particular focus on Aboriginal and Indigenous law and on Indigenous students. Smith immediately wrote Chief Justice Smith, requesting her approval and that of Wilson-Raybould. But on May 9, Sabourin first warned that the appointment “may warrant consideration” by the judicial council, the court documents say.

Source: National Post September 26, 2018 11:03 UTC