Daniel P. Kennedy is a judge and former politician in

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada. He has served on the

Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba The Court of King's Bench of 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 divisions. The Family Division deals wi ...

since 1984.

Political candidate

Kennedy ran for the

Manitoba Liberal Party The Manitoba Liberal Party () is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late 19th century, following the province's creation in 1870. History Origins and early development (to 1883) Originally, there were no off ...

in the electoral district of

St. Vital St. 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 Municipality of Ritchot; on ...

in a 1971

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

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 Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

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

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

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 o ...

. 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 format), tabloid newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is owned by The Klein Group circa 2024.Following its acquisition of Sun Media, opinion plus an emphasis on local news stories, and ex ...

'' 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 (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

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'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...

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 Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

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 most often refers 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 o ...

. In 1999, Kennedy re-instituted a triple-tax penalty for

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

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)