Madam Justice Revisited
A couple weeks back, you may remember me ranting about Madam Justice Mary Southin and how she blackmailed the Province of BC. In short, the Madam Justice said that if she couldn't smoke in her chambers, she would resign. Attorney General Geoff Plant decided that it would be all right to break the rules, condone blackmail, and install a $19,000 ventilation system at the cost of the tax-payer. Well, new developments in the story have come about, so I thought it only be fair to continue to cover the story.As you will read here, it was revealed that Southin offered to pony up $12,000 of the $19,000 bill. Plant's excuse as to why he did not mention this before was because no one asked him that question. As if that's every been an acceptable excuse in public (or private) matter before!
At any rate, under the pressure, Plant has decided to take Southin up on her offer. While this move makes this situation slightly better, it still does not address the two (in my mind) major issues: blackmail and smoking violations. With examples like this, and lawsuits like this, what sort of precedent does this set? How can any lawsuit by the province succeed against the tobacco industry when the province itself is basically endorsing smoking? And, if Southin is clearly willing to put smoking before her job as a Justice of the Peace, how can we trust her to do her job effectively?
Comments
I'd like to see any report that smoking has bad side effects. I pity you Mary, fight the system. - Patrick Gibson the 2nd, Tuesday, February 4, 2003 |  |
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