Group looking into judge at centre of sex scandal resigns
A group tasked with looking into the conduct of a Manitoba judge at the centre of a sex scandal announced their resignation on Wednesday, one in a number of setbacks in the inquiry.
The inquiry was looking into allegations that Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas sexually harassed a Winnipeg man Alex Chapman.
Chapman alleged Douglas and her husband tried to pressure him into having sex with Douglas in 2003.
Douglas has denied the claims.
The inquiry has faced a number of setbacks and delays, including Douglas’s lawyer Sheila Block calling for the inquiry to be quashed over concerns about committee bias.
A federal court is also scheduled to hear a challenge from Douglas’s lawyer about a number of issues. Now, it is not clear if that challenge will go ahead.
The inquiry committee who was hearing the proceedings and interviewing witnesses quit en masse on Wednesday, saying they don’t believe the public interest was being served by ongoing delays.
The committee said they worried about the cost to the public and had concern for the process itself.
The committee said in a normal course of action they would have completed the inquiry and prepared their report by now.
The Canadian Judicial Council, which oversees inquiries into judges’ behaviour, said a new committee may be appointed.
