22 Jun Retired Ontario judge slags Herald’s Steve Maher

Writing in this morning’s Toronto Star, retired Ontario Superior Court Justice Daniel Ferguson waxes indignant over the decision by Chronicle-Herald Ottawa reporter Steve Maher to listen to and report on an accidental recording of a private conversation between Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and her communications director, the recently fired Jasmine MacDonnell. Moneyquote:

Does this scenario not merit any comment from his fellow journalists?

If his colleague had left her briefcase in the washroom, would he have rummaged through it, too?

His comment about MacDonnell leaving it with him for five months sounded like a weak argument that perhaps she had abandoned it. But there is no such evidence. He knew whose it was. He knew it was personal. But he listened to it nevertheless.

In fact, the scenario has provoked comment from Maher’s fellow journalists, including a tortured defense of Raitt by Tory hack Christie Blatchford, and a roundup of reaction from the inside-Ottawa journal Hill Times. For our part, contrarian has praised Maher’s exemplary restraint.