Press v. Age

Canadian judges, rarely criticized, even more rarely deign to answer critics. Last week octogenarian Justice Robert Maxwell Dennistoun of Manitoba's Appeal Court took exception to the rule, turned on a critic.

In February, the Winnipeg Free Press declared: "The men who occupy [the Appeal Court] do not have the collective energy to deal adequately with the litigation before them. Two of the judges, by reason of age and infirmity, are unable to discharge their duties ... a condition which approaches a public scandal."

Last week Justice Dennistoun swore in Missouri-born Ewen Alexander McPherson, 65, as the new Chief Justice succeeding James Emile Prendergast, 86. Justice Dennistoun used the occasion to rip into the Free Press. He roared that its editorial was "as treacherous as the attack made by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. It can be compared only to a raid on a hospital ship flying the Red Cross or a mercy ship with all lights burning and no means of defense available. . . ."

Next day the Free Press coolly replied: "If in the future it is deemed advisable in the public interest to discuss the Court of Appeals, or any other court in Manitoba, we will not hesitate to do so."

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