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The change has been attacked by Liberal and Conservative political leaders in the region. The Canadian Bar Association has asked the government to reconsider, while the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador has warned, darkly, that “given the constitutional nature of this convention it is possible litigation may ensue.” Of late it has become an issue in the federal Conservative leadership race, with possible contenders Lisa Raitt and Peter MacKay, both originally from Nova Scotia, vying for who could take the greatest umbrage on behalf of their region: was it a “slap in the face” (Raitt) or a “spit in our eye” (MacKay)?

If this sounds like a story pitting the federal government’s broad-minded search for the most meritorious candidates against the parochialism of Atlantic Canadian politicians, think again. The same policy that directs the advisory board to consider candidates from across Canada also compels it to recommend only those who are “functionally bilingual,” while enjoining it to “support the government of Canada’s intent to achieve a gender-balanced Supreme Court of Canada that also reflects the diversity of members of Canadian society.”

All that has happened is that one axis of “diversity” has been displaced by another; in place of region, seats on the court will now be allotted by sex and race. In the rock-paper-scissors game of identity politics, Atlantic Canadians lost out; that is all. “If it’s possible,” the Globe and Mail’s Sean Fine quoted a Liberal insider on the search for Cromwell’s replacement, “they’re going to give it to a female, bilingual, visible minority.” That rather limits the choice of possible candidates, even before you add the requirement that it be drawn from a region with six per cent of the country’s population.