ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Canada's top justice says she is not concerned that a recent spat with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Justice Minister Peter MacKay has eroded the respect of politicians for the courts.
Beverley McLachlin, chief justice of the Supreme Court, says it's not uncommon to have "tensions here and there."
McLachlin made the comments to reporters in St. John's, N.L., where she is attending a meeting of the Canadian Bar Association.
Earlier this year, Harper and MacKay suggested McLachlin had behaved inappropriately by trying to flag potential problems with the proposed appointment of Federal Court Judge Marc Nadon to the country's highest court.
McLachlin says she wants to get on with the business of the court, despite unanswered calls from a Geneva-based group of judges and lawyers for Harper to retract his comments.
The International Commission of Jurists has also called on Harper and MacKay to apologize to McLachlin, whose integrity it said has been impugned by the public criticism.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Beverley McLachlin says she is not concerned about an erosion of the public's respect for the courts.
