I thought that Paul Martin put an end to the practice of appointing partisan Quebec Liberal supporters to the bench. Perhaps he thought nobody would notice.

I did.

Remember this pledge by Paul Martin in March 2004?

“We have declared all-out war against waste and mismanagement. We will put an end to cronyism” — Paul Martin

Today, Paul Martin couldn’t be more ignorant of the concept of cronyism as he appointed André Wery to the Superior Court of Quebec:

Prime Minister Paul Martin today announced that Her Excellency the Governor General has approved his recommendation that the Honourable André Wery be appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Québec

Associate Chief Justice Wery has served since 1997 as a judge of the Superior Court of Québec. He received a bachelor of Laws from the University of Montreal in 1974 and was admitted to the Barreau du Québec in 1975. Prior to his initial appointment to the bench, he was a partner with the firm Desjardins, Ducharme, Stein and Monast.

This appointment is effective immediately.

Let’s take a look in the Elections Canada database for donations by André Wery. Yes, Wery is a Liberal partisan:

1995: $342.45 to the Liberal Party of Canada

1996: $1,340.69 to the Liberal Party of Canada

1997: $346.79 to the Liberal Party of Canada

Judges aren’t even patronage appointments! Isn’t the judiciary supposed to be without bias? Wasn’t this a cornerstone of the corruption found in Adscam?