Latest news with #RichardWagner
CTV News
a day ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Federal Court of Appeal overturns decision requiring action on judicial vacancies
The Calgary Courts Centre pictured in Calgary, Monday, May 6, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh OTTAWA — A panel of judges has overturned a Federal Court ruling that directed the federal government to step up the pace of judicial appointments to address an 'untenable' number of vacancies. The Federal Court of Appeal allowed the federal appeal of the ruling, saying the lower court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. In a February 2024 ruling, Federal Court Justice Henry Brown said constitutional convention requires Ottawa to appoint a new judge to fill a vacancy within a reasonable time. The government asked the Federal Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment and dismiss the underlying application brought by lawyer Yavar Hameed. In his application, Hameed said he had experienced significant delays in litigation proceedings on behalf of vulnerable clients. Among the material filed in the initial case was a May 2023 letter to then-prime minister Justin Trudeau from Chief Justice Richard Wagner, chair of the Canadian Judicial Council, expressing 'deep concern' about the 85 judicial vacancies on superior and federal courts. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
National Post
7 days ago
- Politics
- National Post
Yuan Yi Zhu: Canada's tasteless, attention-seeking, unproductive chief justice
On Wednesday, Richard Wagner, the chief justice of Canada, gave his annual press conference, intending to talk at length about his manifold achievements throughout the year. But he became visibly uncomfortable when National Post reporter Christopher Nardi asked him why the Supreme Court refuses disclose the identity of the donor of a bust of Wagner that is on display in the lobby of the Supreme Court. Article content Article content The head of what is supposedly 'one of the world's most transparent and accessible apex courts' said that he had no idea who paid for the bust, and claimed that it was put on public display before his retirement at the artist's request (the sculptor has denied this). Article content Article content Article content When pressed on his non-answer, he began to ramble about the pens and ties he's received as token gifts from foreign judges, instead of his bust, which cost around $18,000. Pressed again, he denied even knowing whether the bust was a gift or not. 'I don't know who paid for that, so how can there be a conflict of interest?' he finally said with a contemptuous shrug, his customary bonhomie having all but vanished. Article content Wagner's evident discomfort at the question is understandable. Putting aside the obvious conflicts of interest and ethical problems involved, it is both unprecedented and deeply vulgar for a sitting Canadian judge to have a sculpture of himself in his court's lobby, a decision he must have personally endorsed, and which, as far as I know, has no parallel in any other court in the common law world. Article content Article content Nor is the bust the only instance of the chief justice's seemingly insatiable appetite for personal publicity. Until recently, next to the bust in the lobby was a display featuring documents and photos of his time as administrator of the Government of Canada (the chief justice stands in when there is no governor general), a non-job that Wagner appears determined to publicly memorialize. And visitors to the court's new website are welcomed with a large picture of Wagner, almost three times as big as the one on the old website. Article content
National Post
13-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Chris Selley: Our supreme court's chief justice is a busted flush. What will we do about it?
'I don't know who paid for that, so how can there be a conflict of interest?' That hall-of-fame, mic-drop Canadian quote, delivered to National Post's Christopher Nardi this week, came from no less an authority than the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Richard Wagner. Article content Article content The thing Wagner supposedly doesn't know who paid for is a hideous bronze bust of himself that sits in the entrance hall of the Supreme Court building, where it breaks at least two longstanding traditions: one, that only former chief justices get publicly busted; and two, that the busts indicate their provenance. Article content Article content Let us pause here to consider the proposition Canada's most senior jurist has placed before us, in public, as if he thought he was defending himself effectively. Article content Article content We are to believe he just showed up to work one morning to find himself immortalized in bronze in the lobby of his office, and not only did he not know where this bronze bust came from, but at no point in the many months since it showed up has he bothered to inquire where it came from. Article content 'The Chief Justice's bust was donated to the Court by a donor who specifically asked to remain anonymous. For this reason, the plaque bears no mention of the donor. We have no information on the cost of the bust,' the Supreme Court's executive legal officer Stéphanie Bachand told National Post last year. 'Neither the Chief Justice nor the court's administration know about the donor's identity.' Article content If you believe that — and far be it from me to suggest you should doubt the word of a fine, upstanding, Jesuit-educated judge such as Wagner — then isn't that a bit of a problem in itself? Canada's decider-in-chief wasn't even a bit curious? Can anyone just donate a grotesque likeness of a Supreme Court justice, FedEx it to the Supreme Court, and expect it to be prominently on display when they show up a week later? Article content Article content It's not as though Wagner doesn't take ownership of the court's other general affairs. At the same press conference Wednesday where he disavowed any knowledge of how the unexpected statuary arrived, he updated reporters on the renovation schedule for the Supreme Court building, and confirmed the court would be hearing cases in Halifax in 2027. He also wants new robes for the justices, because that was definitely the squeaky wheel that needed greasing. Article content
Bloomberg
11-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley Australia CEO on Business Outlook
Richard Wagner, CEO of Morgan Stanley Australia, discusses his outlook and growth strategy for the business, as he sees an uptick in M&A and IPO activity in the Australian market in the second half of 2025. He speaks exclusively with Haidi Stroud Watts on the sidelines of the annual Morgan Stanley Australia Summit on "Bloomberg: The Asia Trade". (Source: Bloomberg)
Bloomberg
11-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley Australia CEO Says IPOs, Deals Are Returning
Morgan Stanley 's Australia chief said he's seeing a return of initial public offerings and merger activity after a 'horrible' first half as the country's stability draws overseas capital. 'Certainly the first six months of this year have been difficult on deal flow, but I think we are about to see that change,' Richard Wagner said in a Bloomberg TV interview in Sydney. 'We will see the IPO market open' and the M&A pipeline is 'very strong' in Australia, which augurs well for the next six months, he said.
