David Butts admits that "government-imposed educational requirements could certainly pose that risk [of eroding judicial independance]."

It doesn't help his case that Bill C-377 is justified in requiring exactly that by saying problems still happen.  Not even when he uses the word "egregious" twice.

Perhaps if the federal government acted a little sooner in filling federal judicial vacancies, the judicial council's own education programs would be able to do the job properly.