Complaint against Justice Donald McLeod dismissed by Ontario Judicial Council thanks to strong community support

BY PAUL JUNOR

The dismissal of a complaint against Justice Donald McLeod by the Ontario Judicial Council will no doubt close a painful chapter in his life. For over three months, the four-member panel has been weighing evidence that was presented. Even though it was a disciplinary hearing, it seemed almost like a criminal trial. The hearing started in February 2021 and ended on Thursday, March 18^th, 2021.

It is hard to believe that it is over two years now since the honourable Judge McLeod had his life turned upside down. It was triggered by his involvement in an organization that he founded, The Federation of Black Canadians (FBC). According to its website fbc.org, it is “A national, non-partisan, non-profit organization to advance the social, economic, political and cultural interests of Canadians of African descent.”

The first complaint against him in 2018 centred on his readership role with FBC and the first OJC panel dismissed the complaint against him. It was assumed that Justice McLeod had cut all ties with the FBC by June 2018.  When it was discovered that he still had connections with the FBC and was involved in events that could be considered advocacy and lobbying, it raised concerns about impartiality and judicial interference.

This led to a complaint against Justice McLeod that he had allegedly lied to the original disciplinary panel and misled them by not informing them that he was still involved with the FBC. This led to his suspension in August 2019, and the second hearing to ascertain the truth behind these fresh allegations. The four-member panellists went over evidence from witnesses who were connected with the FBC, and interrogated Justice McLeod for five days.

Sheila Block, one of the lawyers who represented Justice McLeod told the panellists, “He is deeply honest, full of integrity and trying to do the right thing. If he’s crossed over the line, if he’s made a mistake, it was not…deliberately false, it was not intending to mislead. We are asking that all these counts be dismissed and, to the extent there is anything you can do, to repair what is the inevitable damage of being accused of committing perjury.”

The June 3^rd ruling by the panel cleared Justice McLeod of perjury allegations. The decision reads, “We have concluded that two aspects of Justice McLeod’s conduct were incompatible with justiciable office but not so seriously to the impartiality, integrity and independent of the judiciary that, whether individually or cumulatively, they rose to the level of undermining the public’s confidence in his ability to perform the duties of his office or the administration of justice generally. We therefore dismiss the current complaint.”

The OJC acknowledges that certain actions on the part of Justice McLeod were “incompatible with judicial office,” but it did not necessitate punishment.

As Justice McLeod looks ahead and puts the past two years behind him, he has to be careful. After his ruling it was noted, “We hasten to add, however, that our findings in this case, as well as the findings of the First Panel, demonstrated that, in the future, Justice McLeod must exercise greater caution in his community activities.”

In a letter to the black community written on Saturday, June 13^th, 2021 Justice McLeod was grateful for the support. He writes, ”This letter is coming to you, not by mistake, but rather in an intentional way to say that I recognize what you did for me, I couldn’t have done it without you, and I am thankful.” He is appreciative to God, his wife, family, legal team and many others who supported him wholeheartedly and believed in his innocence. He states poignantly at the end, “Today I stand valued, grateful and proud to be black.”