The United States has been plunged into bitter division over the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, and allegations that he attempted to rape a high school classmate in 1982. Supreme Court appointments are made purely by the executive power of the prime minister; no House of Commons approval is required. Canadian Supreme Court nominees do attend a hearing in front of a joint session of senators and MPs, but it’s a mere formality. As mentioned above, Canadian Supreme Court nominees don’t differ all that much between Liberal and Conservative governments, reducing the partisan tug-of-war over who gets to pick them. Both justices were well over 75 years old, meaning that had they served on the Supreme Court of Canada their replacement would have been handled long ago with ample notice.

Source: National Post October 02, 2018 13:13 UTC