At the end of July, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its ruling in Democracy Watch v. Canada (Attorney General). This ruling has enormous implications for governments across Canada.
One of the key issues in the Democracy Watch case was the presence of clauses in the relevant legislation that foreclosed appeal to the courts. This all stems from the Federal Ethics Commissioner's investigation and ruling in the WE Charities debacle. I want to be clear here: I am not about to engage in a re-examination of the WE Charities debacle - I have many thoughts about it, none of which are really relevant to this ruling.
The underlying issue in this case is S66 of the Conflict of Interest Act (COIA), which reads:
Orders and decisions final
66 Every order and decision of the Commissioner is final and shall not be questioned or reviewed in any court, except in accordance with the Federal Courts Act on the grounds referred to in paragraph 18.1(4)(a), (b) or (e) of that Act.
