Canada's minister of justice, along with her counterpart in Quebec, want to reopen an investigation into a provincial judge who was allowed to remain on the bench — even after allegations surfaced that he purchased cocaine.

The request comes after the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) decided to allow Quebec Superior Court Justice Michel Girouard to remain on the provincial bench, despite a special panel's conclusion that he should be removed.

In a joint statement from federal Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould, and Quebec's Minister of Justice Stéphanie Vallée, both levels of government are calling for a new inquiry, "given the important purpose of the judicial discipline process, the critical role of integrity in ensuring public confidence in the judiciary, and the need to ensure fairness to Justice Girouard."

The director of communications at the Ministry of Justice, Michael Davis, told VICE News that, "while Ministers Wilson-Raybould and Vallée acknowledge the Council's procedural concerns, the result is that the serious findings about Justice Girouard's integrity remain unaddressed. The Ministers believe these issues are important enough to warrant further review."

The investigation began in 2009, before Girouard's appointment to the court, after provincial police arrested two of his clients on drug charges. Yvon Lamontagne, one of these clients, became a police informant in 2012.

Lamontagne provided police with September 2010 surveillance footage showing him and Girouard, who was then still a lawyer, seated at a table in the back of the video store he then owned. Girouard gives money to Lamontagne, and Lamontagne then slides a small item across the table to Girouard.

Lamontagne told police that he sold Girouard around a kilogram of cocaine between 1987 and 1991, with the video he provided allegedly depicting another transaction that took place just 13 days before Girouard was appointed to the Superior Court of Quebec, the highest trial court in the province — which frequently deals with drug offences.

The chief justice of the court, François Rolland asked the judicial council to launch a review into the claims in 2012. Girouard was suspended with pay in January 2013 until the review was complete.

The report on Girouard, prepared by a committee established by the CJC, wasn't released until 2015, with the majority of the council recommending Girouard be removed.

"If Justice Girouard were to continue as a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec, this would, in our opinion, undermine public confidence in the entire judicial system," wrote two members of the review council — Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton and lawyer Ronald Leblanc.

The third member of the review, Manitoba Chief Justice Richard Chartier, disagreed, and recommended that Girouard remain on the bench because none of the allegations could be proven.

"In my humble opinion, in the present case, we cannot impose a consequence for a misconduct that was not part of the notice of allegations," he wrote in the report. "In my view, procedural fairness requires, if there is sufficient evidence of misconduct, that Justice Girouard be given an opportunity to respond to the issues raised by my colleagues."

But a final report from the CJC, sent to Wilson-Raybould, supported Chartier's view, and recommended that Girouard remain on the bench.