Yuan Yi Zhu: Canada's tasteless, attention-seeking, unproductive chief justice
On Wednesday, Richard Wagner, the chief justice of Canada, gave his annual press conference, intending to talk at length about his manifold achievements throughout the year. But he became visibly uncomfortable when National Post reporter Christopher Nardi asked him why the Supreme Court refuses disclose the identity of the donor of a bust of Wagner that is on display in the lobby of the Supreme Court.
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The head of what is supposedly 'one of the world's most transparent and accessible apex courts' said that he had no idea who paid for the bust, and claimed that it was put on public display before his retirement at the artist's request (the sculptor has denied this).
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When pressed on his non-answer, he began to ramble about the pens and ties he's received as token gifts from foreign judges, instead of his bust, which cost around $18,000. Pressed again, he denied even knowing whether the bust was a gift or not. 'I don't know who paid for that, so how can there be a conflict of interest?' he finally said with a contemptuous shrug, his customary bonhomie having all but vanished.
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Wagner's evident discomfort at the question is understandable. Putting aside the obvious conflicts of interest and ethical problems involved, it is both unprecedented and deeply vulgar for a sitting Canadian judge to have a sculpture of himself in his court's lobby, a decision he must have personally endorsed, and which, as far as I know, has no parallel in any other court in the common law world.
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Nor is the bust the only instance of the chief justice's seemingly insatiable appetite for personal publicity. Until recently, next to the bust in the lobby was a display featuring documents and photos of his time as administrator of the Government of Canada (the chief justice stands in when there is no governor general), a non-job that Wagner appears determined to publicly memorialize. And visitors to the court's new website are welcomed with a large picture of Wagner, almost three times as big as the one on the old website.
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