More on Retired Supreme Court Justice Bastarache's Record

Earlier this month, I mentioned a report by the conservative non-profit Canadian Constitution Foundation called Judging Bastarache.

The report sought to evaluate Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michel Bastarache's record on "individual and economic freedom". Justice Bastarache retired from the Court in June of this year.

The evaluators have now been evaluated.

The Osgoode Hall Law School blog The Court today published an article entitled Judging "Judging Bastarache":

"It would be manifestly unfair to criticize Judging Bastarache for having an ideological underpinning. It is seldom, if ever that empirical research is entirely devoid of such an underpinning (...)

"However, even a cursory glance at Judging Bastarache betrays the report’s squarely conservative bent. Perhaps most strikingly, the authors characterize the majority decision in Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General), [2005] 1 S.C.R. 791 - a case widely believed to be a forerunner to increased privatization of Canadian healthcare — as 'Pro Freedom' and, by extension, the dissenting opinion as 'Anti Freedom'."