Asked about the U.S., Canada's chief justice says rule of law is 'under attack' worldwide

Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump's contentious relationship with parts of the American judiciary, Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Richard Wagner said Tuesday "the rule of law and judicial independence is under attack" around the world.

Speaking to reporters at his annual news conference on Parliament Hill, Wagner said if a government attacks the media, judges, lawyers and universities — as Trump and his associates have done in recent weeks — there's a good chance it's "a dictatorship" and an "autocratic government."

Wagner said Canadians must be "prudent" and preserve their institutions, including a judicial system where rulings are respected by elected officials. "We have to be careful, but be optimistic as well.

"In Canada we have a strong legal system," he said. "We have to defend those institutions. We should not take anything for granted."

Wagner said, throughout his cross-country travels, "everybody asks me the same question" about whether what's going on in the U.S. court system will bleed over into Canada.

What's different in Canada, Wagner said, is that the "main stakeholders" here "respect separation of powers and judicial independence and are happy to live in a country where the rule of law will prevail.

"Canada is not a superpower. But it is a democratic superpower. In this country, the rule of law is non-negotiable," he said.

WATCH | Canada's chief justice asked about attacks on judiciary:

Rule of law, judicial independence under attack around the world, Canada's chief justice says

3 days ago

Duration 4:49

Asked Tuesday about the state of the judiciary in the United States, Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner said when you see governments attacking media, judges, lawyers and universities 'there is a good chance you are in front of a dictatorship.' People should be prudent yet optimistic because the Canadian judicial system remains impartial and strong, he said.

In his second term as president, Trump is pushing an ambitious but constitutionally dubious agenda that has been held back by some judicial rulings.

The president has slammed some judges on social media — complaining about a "radicalized and incompetent court system" in one recent post — and threatened others with impeachment or removal from office.

When one federal judge ordered a temporary halt to the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members, Trump said it was the actions of a "radical left lunatic of a judge, a troublemaker and agitator" who should be off the bench.

In hundreds of cases before the U.S. court system, judges have delayed or stymied his efforts to close some federal agencies, pursue mass layoffs of federal workers, block foreign aid, end birthright citizenship for people born on American soil, deport undocumented migrants and slap tariffs on countries such as Canada.

After the U.S. Court of International Trade struck down parts of Trump's tariffs regime, saying the president overstepped his constitutional authority by imposing sweeping levies on global goods, one of his top advisers, Stephen Miller, said, "The judicial coup is out of control." 

Trump has had some legal victories, notably at the U.S. Supreme Court, which includes three justices appointed by him.

Late last month, the top court let Trump's administration revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants living in the United States, bolstering the Republican president's drive to step up deportations.

A Trump official said that ruling was "a victory for the American people."