OTTAWA — The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society has dismissed a complaint against Attorney General Peter MacKay, whose comments about Justin Trudeau’s pot smoking struck a nerve with an outspoken University of Ottawa professor.
Amir Attaran called on the regulator to investigate MacKay for allegedly misleading Canadians when he said “it’s currently against the law to smoke dope” in a televised interview.
MacKay made the comments in late August, shortly after the Liberal leader declared his support for legalizing marijuana and admitted to smoking weed, as recently as a few years ago, after he had been elected as an MP.
In his letter to the law society, Attaran said the courts have concluded that it’s against the law to possess marijuana, but that smoking it isn’t a crime in and of itself.
He called MacKay’s comments inappropriate and partisan in nature because he alleged a crime was committed even though Trudeau was never charged.
In a letter to Attaran dated Sept. 30 and obtained by Postmedia News, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society argued MacKay was “entitled to express the view that Mr. Trudeau’s actions were illegal” and that there’s “no evidence” to suggest he didn’t believe what he was saying was true.
The regulator said “no lawyer is held to the standard of perfection” and besides, it’s not within the scope of its complaints process to decide if MacKay’s opinion was “legally correct.
“Even though a Member of Parliament is a lawyer they are still permitted to make fair public comment without fear of intervention by their governing body,” the letter said.
“Application of the rules of ethics to limit fair comment under such circumstances would have a chilling effect on appropriate public discourse and this would not be in the public interest.”
The regulator concluded MacKay’s statements to the media “do not raise any issue of a lack of integrity” and that Attaran’s allegations, if proven, would not “constitute professional misconduct, conduct unbecoming or professional incompetence.”
In a statement Monday, MacKay said he was “pleased” with the regulator’s decision to dismiss the complaint and uphold his right to participate in a “public debate on the Liberal Leader’s record.
“It is my belief that public discourse, freedom of speech and political debate are the hallmarks of a democracy, and I will continue to adhere to these principles in all my actions,” MacKay said.
Attaran could not immediately be reached for comment.
His complaint, however, touched off a heated legal debate with a fellow University of Ottawa law professor that played out on Twitter and in the press.
Adam Dodek chided his colleague Attaran for his “ill advised baseless and frivolous complaint” and predicted it would indeed be dismissed.
Dodek argued law societies “should not be in the business of policing politicians’ statements” and that the “disturbing trend” by some lawyers to “silence or chill legitimate debate” through the law society complaints process needed to stop.
“I am not surprised in the slightest that the complaint was dismissed,” he said Monday. “It was ill-conceived, baseless and frivolous.”
Twitter.com/tobicohen
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