Attorney General Arif Virani announced Wednesday CBC pundit Carissima Mathen has been appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario.

Mathen, a University of Ottawa law professor, commented on legal affairs while drawing thousands in consulting fees from the Privy Council Office, without explaining the payments at the time when asked, per Blacklock’s Reporter.

“I wish Justice Mathen every success,” said Virani.

The Privy Council Office in a 2020 Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons disclosed a $24,750 payment to Mathen in 2017 for “advisory services.” Other federal accounts listed a $24,860 payment in the same period.

“My work in 2017 is subject to a duty of confidentiality that I am not at liberty to waive,” Mathen told Blacklock's.

“I have not engaged in any related discussion with media or otherwise.”

“In 2016, I provided advice about a new appointment process for the Supreme Court of Canada,” said Mathen.

“That work is on the public record. I have disclosed it to all media seeking commentary about that new process.”

The CBC in 2018 referred to Mathen as “one of this country’s leading constitutional scholars.” The public broadcaster did not disclose the fact it had asked her for commentary on federal legal affairs while she was a Privy Council consultant.

“Professor Mathen is not a regular contributor,” CBC spokesperson Chuck Thompson said earlier.

“In fact she hasn’t been on CBC for at least a year. If we book her again, any potential conflicts will be determined at the time as we endeavor to do with all our guests.”

According to the CBC Journalistic Standards And Practices guidelines, “It is important to mention any association, affiliation or specific interest a guest or commentator may have so that the public can fully understand that person’s perspective.”

Further, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code Of Ethics also mandates full disclosure by media of pundits’ interests.

Mathen has publicly expressed support for the Trudeau Liberals.

“They may not get every decision right but they are clearly acting in good faith,” Matthen wrote on social media in 2020.

As MPs passed a spending bill March 13, 2020, Mathen said she was “appreciative.”

“Feeling emotional watching House of Commons right now,” she wrote.

“Such a powerful example of the goodwill essential to our most cherished principles and wonderful country.”

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