The federal court ruled that Crown prosecutors do not have the right to run for public office. There have been different rulings on whether the Public Service Employment Act limits political involvement by prosecutors from courts and labour arbitrators..“There is little to ground the claim,” wrote Justice Lobat Sadrehashemi. Declaring that nonpartisan Crown prosecutors are allowed to run for public office would be “extraordinary,” the judge added..In 2021, Noel Sinclair, a senior Crown prosecutor in Whitehorse, requested a leave of absence to run for a seat in the Yukon legislature. .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, his request was denied by the Public Service Commission. .Sinclair did not disclose which political party he intended to represent in his riding of Takhini-Kopper King. The New Democratic Party won the riding with 63% of the votes in the most recent election..“Mr. Sinclair asks that this Court declare the Public Service Commission’s decision disproportionately impacted his Charter rights” and that “Crown prosecutors are presumptively permitted to seek nominations or run as candidates in federal, provincial or territorial elections,” wrote Sadrehashemi. .“I am not convinced.”.The Whitehorse case is the latest in a series of rulings on politicking by Crown prosecutors. The Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board in 2018 upheld the right of prosecutor Kristen Mohr of Ottawa to work as a campaign volunteer off duty. Mohr complained after supervisors refused her request to hand out pamphlets in the 2015 election as an “apparent or potential conflict of interest.” Mohr’s campaign was not named..Emilie Taman, another prosecutor, was dismissed for campaigning for the New Democrats in the 2015 Ottawa-Vanier election. In 2017, the federal court of Appeal deemed her dismissal unfair and found no clear reason why she could not campaign for the NDP under the Public Sector Employment Act..“Parliament was concerned not so much with political impartiality in and of itself but rather with the impairment, or perception of impairment, of a public official’s ability to perform their duties in a politically impartial manner,” wrote Justice Denis Pelletier. .“There is an argument to be made that Ms. Taman’s right to participate fully in the electoral process should not be curtailed by the possibility of bad faith attacks on her impartiality.”.In the 2015 Ottawa-Vanier election, Taman lost by a margin of 24,000 votes. She ran again in a 2017 by-election in the same riding, losing by 6,600 votes. Taman also made an unsuccessful bid for Ottawa Centre in 2019, losing by 15,000 votes. In addition, she ran for Ottawa City Council in 2018 but was unsuccessful.
The federal court ruled that Crown prosecutors do not have the right to run for public office. There have been different rulings on whether the Public Service Employment Act limits political involvement by prosecutors from courts and labour arbitrators..“There is little to ground the claim,” wrote Justice Lobat Sadrehashemi. Declaring that nonpartisan Crown prosecutors are allowed to run for public office would be “extraordinary,” the judge added..In 2021, Noel Sinclair, a senior Crown prosecutor in Whitehorse, requested a leave of absence to run for a seat in the Yukon legislature. .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, his request was denied by the Public Service Commission. .Sinclair did not disclose which political party he intended to represent in his riding of Takhini-Kopper King. The New Democratic Party won the riding with 63% of the votes in the most recent election..“Mr. Sinclair asks that this Court declare the Public Service Commission’s decision disproportionately impacted his Charter rights” and that “Crown prosecutors are presumptively permitted to seek nominations or run as candidates in federal, provincial or territorial elections,” wrote Sadrehashemi. .“I am not convinced.”.The Whitehorse case is the latest in a series of rulings on politicking by Crown prosecutors. The Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board in 2018 upheld the right of prosecutor Kristen Mohr of Ottawa to work as a campaign volunteer off duty. Mohr complained after supervisors refused her request to hand out pamphlets in the 2015 election as an “apparent or potential conflict of interest.” Mohr’s campaign was not named..Emilie Taman, another prosecutor, was dismissed for campaigning for the New Democrats in the 2015 Ottawa-Vanier election. In 2017, the federal court of Appeal deemed her dismissal unfair and found no clear reason why she could not campaign for the NDP under the Public Sector Employment Act..“Parliament was concerned not so much with political impartiality in and of itself but rather with the impairment, or perception of impairment, of a public official’s ability to perform their duties in a politically impartial manner,” wrote Justice Denis Pelletier. .“There is an argument to be made that Ms. Taman’s right to participate fully in the electoral process should not be curtailed by the possibility of bad faith attacks on her impartiality.”.In the 2015 Ottawa-Vanier election, Taman lost by a margin of 24,000 votes. She ran again in a 2017 by-election in the same riding, losing by 6,600 votes. Taman also made an unsuccessful bid for Ottawa Centre in 2019, losing by 15,000 votes. In addition, she ran for Ottawa City Council in 2018 but was unsuccessful.
