Daniel P. Kennedy is a judge and former politician in

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

, Canada. He has served on the

Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba The Court of King's Bench of Manitoba (french: Cour du Banc du Roi du Manitoba)—or the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba, depending on the monarch—is the superior court of the Canadian province of Manitoba. The court is divided into two ...

since 1984.

Political candidate

Kennedy ran for the

Manitoba Liberal Party The Manitoba Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral du Manitoba) is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late 19th century, following the province's creation in 1870. Origins and early development (to 1883) Origin ...

in the electoral district of

St. Vital St. Vital (french: Saint-Vital) is a ward and neighbourhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Located in the south-central part of the city, it is bounded on the north by Carrière Avenue; on the south by the northern limit of the Rural Municipal ...

in a 1971

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

and the 1973 general election. In the 1971 by-election, he campaigned against the amalgamation of

into the new "unicity" of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

. In 1973, he was supported by many Progressive Conservatives as the candidate most likely to defeat

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

incumbent

Jim Walding Derek James Walding (May 9, 1937 – April 23, 2007) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1971 to 1988 and served as speaker of the assembly from 1982 to 1986. Walding was a member of ...

. He narrowly lost to Walding on both occasions. Ian Stewart describes Kennedy as having been an "ambitious, articulate, and photogenic young lawyer" in this period.

Judge

Kennedy was appointed as a provincial judge on August 30, 1978, and was promoted to the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba on June 21, 1984. He presided over the trial of a prominent Hell's Angels member in 1993, and considered the question of whether a ''

Winnipeg Sun The ''Winnipeg Sun'' is a daily tabloid newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia following its acquisition of Sun Media, and shares many characteristics typical of Sun tabloids, including an emphasis on local news st ...

'' reporter had a right to protect a confidential source. He determined that he would not charge the reporter with contempt of court for refusing to divulge the source, and instead asked the provincial

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

to review the matter. In 1992, Kennedy ruled that it was not a violation of the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part ...

to sentence a defendant to six months in jail for failure to pay parking tickets. This ruling was overturned on appeal. In 1995, he became the first judge in Manitoba to order the repossession of a convict's property under "proceeds of crime" legislation passed six years earlier. The following year, he dismissed two statements a defendant had given to police on the grounds that the statements were made under duress. Partly as a result of this ruling, Winnipeg police began videotaping their talks with suspects the following year. Kennedy gave a stiff, 13-year sentence to a heroin distributor in 1994, and was quoted as saying, " ny of the ills of society, the destruction of our societal fabric, comes because of the illicit use of drugs". In 2003, he gave a 28-month sentence to a man convicted of trafficking

ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

. In 1999, Kennedy re-instituted a triple-tax penalty for cigarette smugglers that had been overturned by a lower court. He ruled that this penalty, while severe, did not "shock or outrage standards of decency".David Kuxhaus, "Judge restores smuggled-smokes penalty", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 24 July 1999, A7.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Daniel Living people Judges in Manitoba Manitoba Liberal Party candidates in Manitoba provincial elections Year of birth missing (living people)