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Those appointments include a “neighbour, a LeBlanc family relation and three lawyers who helped retire debts from his unsuccessful 2008 leadership bid.”

Nice work if you can get it — a judicial appointment is not only a nicely paid gig, it’s pretty much a job for life.

You really have to screw up to get fired from that job.

Of course, those appointments came hot on the heels of some rather generous donations to the Liberal Party.

In the past, Justice Minister David Lametti denied making judicial appointments based on who donates to the Liberal Party, and his office has done so again in this case.

“All judicial appointments are made on the basis of merit,” Lametti’s spokeswoman Rachel Rappaport said in a statement.

Excuse me if I have trouble believing them.

In April it was reported by the Globe and Mail that judicial appointments were being screened by the prime minister’s office through a party database of donors before appointments were made.

Candidates were even designated as ‘supporters’ if they had donated and been involved with the party sufficiently.

In their investigation, the Globe looked through the 289 judicial appointments made by the Trudeau government and then matched them to Elections Canada donations records.

“Over all, 1,187 contributions were matched to 83 judges — nearly one in three of those appointed. Seventy-five judges, or 90.4% of all judges who made donations, gave to the Liberal Party or its candidates,” the Globe reported.