REAL Women Exposes Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dube
OTTAWA, Apr 9 (LSN) - REAL Women of Canada, a pro-life women’s group which opposes the
radical feminist agenda, yesterday accused feminist activist Supreme Court Justice Clair
L’Heureux-Dube of providing misinformation about her involvement with a feminist
organization. Pro-family advocates have always been disturbed at the apparent feminist
bias in Ms. L’Heureux-Dube’s court opinions.
In a complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council last month, REAL Women charged that Madame
Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dube failed in her duty as a judge “to impartially apply the law
and decide cases in accordance with their legal merit.”“She has consistently used her
appointment to the Supreme Court to promote her own bias - in particular, her personal
belief in and support of feminist ideology,” wrote the group.
REAL Women also noted L’Heureux-Dube’s prominent involvement in feminist groups as proof
of their contention of bias, and requested a recommendation from the Council to Parliament
to have L’Heureux-Dube removed from the Supreme Court.
When the Canadian Judicial Council looked into the complaint and questioned L’Heureux-Dube
about the allegations, the judge responded that, “with respect to the International
Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), I am not now, nor have I ever been, to the best of my
recollection affiliated with this organization.” Given this false information, the
Council told REAL Women that “some of your information included in your complaint does
not appear to be accurate.” As a result, it dismissed the complaint.
According to documents obtained from the Department of Justice under the Access to
Information Act, L’ Heureux Dube was the Canadian Vice President of FIDA and, in 1982,
was offered the opportunity to attend a meeting in Caracs Venezuela on FIDA’s behalf to
endorse the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women.
According to further documentation released by REAL Women, L’Heureux-Dube was a founder
and board member of the feminist research organization, Canadian institute for Research
on the Advancement of Women (CRIAW). According to its own literature CRIAW “plays an
active role in maintaining an informal exchange and close cooperation among women’s
organizations.”
In a follow-up letter to the Canadian Judicial Council, REAL Women drew attention to their
documentation, arguing: “The actions of Madame Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dube have
undermined confidence in and respect for the Supreme Court of Canada. Her presence on the
Court, in which she puts forward the views of a narrow interest group, and ignores or
dismisses that of all other litigants, has undermined the integrity of the Supreme Court
of Canada. The Council should recommend she be removed from the court.”
See a report on this story from the Canadian Press at:
http://www.canada.com/newscafe/getcp.asp?bk=national&sk=990409/n040909.html