THUNDER BAY - A review panel is recommending Justice of the Peace Anna Gibbon be removed from office following findings she engaged in misconduct, though a dissenting member of the panel disagreed on the punishment.
The Justices of the Peace Review Council panel consisting of Justice Timothy Lipson, Justice of the Peace Holly Charyna, and community member John Tzanis released the decision on disposition on Thursday following misconduct hearings for Gibbon held earlier this year.
In February 2022, the panel found Gibbon committed judicial misconduct in relation to proceedings involving her son on a Highway Traffic Act charge, including calling the prosecutor to discuss the case and asking the Regional Senior Justice of the Peace to have the charge withdrawn or stayed.
“We determined that HW Gibbon’s conduct with respect to her son’s legal proceeding was incompatible with her position as a justice of the peace and compromised the independence, impartiality and integrity of her judicial office,” the decision reads.
“We further found that HW Gibbon’s failure, on multiple occasions, to respect the ethical and professional boundaries of her office and to act with impartiality, integrity and independence, undermined public confidence in herself as a judicial officer, and in the administration of justice generally.”
According to the panel’s analysis, restoring public confidence in the judiciary was paramount in its decision and it did not feel other dispositions such as a reprimand, counselling and education, a healing circle, suspension or combination thereof would have achieved that objective.
Ultimately, the majority of the panel agreed Gibbon should be removed from office.
“We find that the only disposition that can restore public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary and in the administration of justice is a recommendation to the Attorney General that she be removed from office,” the decision reads. “The hearing panel hereby makes a recommendation to the Attorney General that Justice of the Peace Anna Gibbon be removed from office.”
Several mitigating factors were taken into consideration by the panel, including Gibbon’s unblemished record as a Justice of the Peace for seven years. It was also noted that her actions were out of character and motivated by a desire to protect her son, as well as a personal history of being marginalized and victimized by the criminal justice system as an Indigenous person.
However, the panel emphasized the seriousness of Gibbon’s misconduct, which it said “jeopardized public confidence in the administration of justice in multiple ways.”
“Regrettably, we have concluded that throughout this proceeding, Her Worship failed to acknowledge the more egregious aspects of her misconduct or demonstrate sincere remorse for her misconduct,” the decision reads.
The panel also cited Gibbon’s testimony during the hearings as problematic, as well as her refusal to acknowledge any wrongdoing, calling into question her personal and professional integrity.
“It is very difficult to see how HW Gibbon can be seen as being able to carry out her duties of adjudicating matters affecting the public, in light of the panel’s findings regarding Her Worship’s credibility and reliability as a witness at the hearing,” the panel said.
The panel concluded that Gibbon’s conduct was: “manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of the impartiality, integrity and independence of the judicial role to render her incapable of executing the judicial office.”
The decision goes on to read that a combination of dispositions other than removal from office would not have restored public confidence in the judiciary.
However, Justice Charyna disagreed with the panel’s ruling, writing dissenting reasons for the decision on the disposition.
Charyna said she agreed with the other panel members that Gibbon’s misconduct was serious in nature but believed her character and capacity for remediation warranted a less severe penalty.
“In my view, Her Worship’s misconduct – as extremely serious as it was – was connected to her misguided sense that she had a responsibility to help her son navigate through the justice system and to protect him in that process,” Charyna wrote.
“The character evidence reveals that HW Gibbon is a respected and highly valued member of the community who approaches her work with compassion and dedication. Moreover, through her service as a justice of the peace, HW Gibbon has helped to give voice within the justice system to a population that has suffered profoundly from systemic discrimination within the community.”
Gladue principals were also cited by Charyna, such as removing an Indigenous woman from the Ontario Court of Justice bench without a restorative justice approach is antithetical to the principals established by the Supreme Court of Canada.
“Public confidence in the administration of justice must also take into consideration how a recommendation for removal from office would be perceived by the Indigenous community,” Charyna said.
Charyna argued a combined disposition of a warning and reprimand, a 30-day suspension without pay, engaging in mentoring, participation in a healing circle, offering apologies to those affected, and undertaking additional education from a mentor was more appropriate.
“These significant combined remedial dispositions would, in my view, be sufficient to restore public confidence in Her Worship, the judiciary and the administration of justice as a whole, while at the same time giving effect to the Gladue principles that apply in the present case,” Charyna said.
Gibbon was appointed as Justice of the Peace for the Ontario Court of Justice in 2013 and previously served as the city of Thunder Bay’s first Aboriginal liaison.
