Harper refused call from Supreme Court chief justice on Nadon appointment

OTTAWA – The Prime Minister’s Office says Stephen Harper refused to take a call from the country’s chief justice about who should be allowed to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada.

The call was placed in the midst of controversy surrounding the nomination of Marc Nadon to the top court.

The PMO says Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin put in a call to then-justice minister Peter MacKay to discuss the appointment, which the high court has since disallowed.

The justice minister then called Harper to give him a heads-up, warning him not to discuss the matter with her because the call would be “inadvisable and inappropriate.”

The PMO says the prime minister agreed, and did not take the call.

The Nadon appointment was controversial even before it was made official.

The Department of Justice sought outside advice before Harper named Nadon to the court, mainly because Nadon was plucked from the Federal Court and not a Quebec high court, as is usually the way.

The appointment was challenged in court and Nadon was deemed ineligible for the appointment.