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One of the nine questions that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants to put to a referendum later this year is about the province working with other willing provinces to have “provincial governments, and not the federal government, select the justices appointed to provincial King’s Bench and Appeals courts.” 

This demand was generally relegated in the news coverage that focused more on the questions related to immigration, but it was the second time in a few weeks that Smith brought up the issue. Earlier in February, she published an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney demanding a “formal and meaningful role in the judicial appointment process” for Alberta. Smith’s approach has been widely criticized as an attempt to politicize the judiciary. 

Provincial frustration with federal judicial appointments goes back decades. Formal consultation with provinces on judicial appointments was even part of the failed Meech Lake accord. 

Quebec governments of all stripes have long advanced similar requests, arguing that Ottawa’s exclusive control over superior court appointments undermines provincial autonomy and institutional legitimacy. 

At a glance, Alberta and Quebec appear to be making the same case. In reality, they are pursuing different visions of federalism and using widely different strategies to advance them.  

Both provinces are responding to the same structural reality. Superior courts routinely adjudicate disputes between Ottawa and the provinces, yet provincial governments exercise no formal input over who becomes a judge. 

It is worth noting the current appointment process has long had critics. The Pepin-Robarts Task Force on Canadian Unity concluded in 1979 that it represented a “questionable remnant of federal centralization.” It recommended that higher court judges be appointed by the provinces after consultation with the federal government — not the other way around. 

One critique of provincial input on nominations is that it would inevitably become partisan and polarized. But there are numerous examples of the current process being perceived — rightly or wrongly — as partisan. The recent nomination of Robert Leckey to the Superior Court of Quebec is........

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