OTTAWA — The lawyers who set out to challenge Marc Nadon's nomination to the Supreme Court of Canada have been rebuffed in a bid to recoup their costs.
Toronto lawyer Rocco Galati and the Constitutional Rights Centre claimed more than $68,000 in fees and costs, but were instead awarded a $5,000 lump sum by the Federal Court of Canada.
Galati filed for $51,706.54 and the centre sought $16,769.20 for work done by lawyer Paul Slansky.
In his decision, Federal Court Judge Russel Zinn calls those bills unwarranted.
Zinn says the application challenging the 2013 appointment of Nadon — whose nomination was ultimately rejected in a ruling by the high court itself — would have been complicated and important had it gone ahead.
However, he says it was essentially sidelined by a subsequent governmental reference to the Supreme Court, rendering their cost claims excessive.
"Although the application would have involved complex issues of law and have been of importance to the judicial system and the Constitution of Canada, the application was derailed and supplanted by the reference," Zinn wrote in his ruling.
"As such, very little work needed to be done on the application by the applicants. The mere filing of it appears to have had the desired result."
He added, though, that the challenge was important.
"At the time the application was filed, there was no apparent objection made to the appointment of Justice Nadon on constitutional grounds by any person or government. To that extent, one could argue that the applicants have done Canada a service and should not be out-of-pocket in so doing."
That was Zinn's justification for the $5,000 lump sum.
Galati had argued that Nadon, a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, was not eligible to be appointed to one of the three high court seats reserved for Quebec.
The Supreme Court agreed and Nadon's appointment was rescinded.
Suzanne Cote was appointed to fill the vacancy.
