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The analogy is imperfect, but if this isn’t akin to the cover-up being worse than the crime, it’s certainly an instance where the conspiracy is more interesting — and offensive — than the original sin.

In the result, the better story is not what Ontario Court Judge Harvey Brownstone said, but that it’s being used as part of a smear campaign against his candidacy for the soon-to-be-vacant Chief Justice’s job.

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The current CJ, Annemarie Bonkalo, will step down in May.

The Ontario Court is the former provincial court, the largest and one of the busiest in Canada. The CJ and associate chief justices are appointed by the premier of the day, though the announcement comes out of the provincial attorney general’s office.

It works the same for federally appointed judges, where the prime minister picks the CJs of each province’s superior court and the associate chief justices.

At both levels, those interested in the top job quietly let it be known that they are “willing to serve,” as the saying goes.