Supreme Court vacancies spark calls to reform selection process

From a Law Times article:

The selection process to fill the void at the Supreme Court of Canada needs further reform, according to a leading commentator on the country's top court.

Justice Louise Charron is leaving the court well before the mandatory retirement age of 75. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promised to consult with the legal community and expose his nominees to replace retiring justices Louise Charron and Ian Binnie to questioning by a parliamentary committee. But that falls short of what's required in a mature democracy, says lawyer and author Philip Slayton.

"It's a bad system, and despite whatever window dressing you use, it's actually very straightforward: the prime minister picks who he wants," Slayton says. "The good thing about the committee is it's in public but it doesn't mean very much. They can't really do anything, they can't reject the nomination."