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Five of 10 major judgments by the court last year were issued with dissenting opinions, acute in some instances, compared to an 80-per-cent consensus on the 10 significant decisions of 2014. That’s a major decline in consensus-based rulings, not only from 2014, but from the court’s historical 75-per-cent record for agreement.

“There has emerged a vocal cadre of judges within the court that’s raising the alarm the court is intruding on Parliament’s policy-making domain and saying, ‘Hold on, Parliament is supposed to make these decisions and we’re not supposed to usurp that role.’ That is a very significant development,” Perrin said in an interview Thursday.

The year ahead for the court, meanwhile, should start to reveal the Liberals’ legal strategy over laws they don’t support that were enacted by the former Conservative government. But challenging such laws at the Supreme Court could be seen as the executive using litigation to get around Parliament’s power to determine the laws of the land, and aggravate the already touchy issue with some justices.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also is faced with naming a new chief justice in 2018 to replace retiring Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who has championed the court’s unanimity.

Justice Rosalie Abella, the first Jewish woman on the court, is considered a strong candidate, except that she will hit mandatory retirement in 2021. That leaves Trudeau to select from seven other justices, all appointed by Harper. (Though highly unlikely, he could elevate a judge from an appellate court and name that person chief justice as well.)