In some countries, judges are elected and affiliated with political parties. Here, they are appointed by the government of the day. Traditionally, the idea has been that they should be non-partisan, independent, and make decisions based on the law and the merits of the case. So, when Premier Doug Ford recently indicated that he wanted to appoint ,like-minded, judges to sit in Ontario courtrooms, the hackles went up in the legal community and beyond. For insight, we welcome: Michael Spratt, partner at the Ottawa criminal law firm Abergel Goldstein & Partners. He's served as a director of the Criminal Lawyers' Association; Mitch Heimpel, director of policy at the public affairs firm, Enterprise Canada;and Joanna Baron, executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation.

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