(Ottawa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday the appointment of a French-speaking judge from Alberta, Mary Moreau, to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Published at 9:52 am. Updated at 10:26 a.m
Judge Moreau will replace Judge Russell Brown on the nation’s highest court, who resigned in June following allegations of misconduct.
With the election of Judge Moreau, Justin Trudeau is making a piece of history. For the first time since the founding of Canada’s Supreme Court, women will be in the majority. The Supreme Court of Canada has a total of nine judges. The appointment of Judge Moreau brings the number of women on the bench to five.
The current eight justices are Chief Justice Richard Wagner, Justice Andromache Karakatsanis, Justice Suzanne Côté, Justice Sheila Martin, Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin and Justices Malcolm Rowe, Nicholas Kasirer and Mahmud Jamal.
“I am pleased to nominate Justice Mary T. Moreau to the Supreme Court of Canada following an open and impartial process. I am confident that her impressive career in the legal community and her commitment to fairness and excellence make Chief Justice Moreau an invaluable choice to our nation’s highest court,” the prime minister said in a statement issued by his office.
Since 2017, Justice Moreau has been Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. She is also the first French-speaking person and the first woman to hold these positions. She previously served on the Supreme Court of Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
Before joining the bench, Mary Moreau practiced criminal, constitutional and civil law in Edmonton, Alberta. Throughout her career she campaigned for the rights of Francophones. She also appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Mahé case. In this case, in 1990, Canada’s highest court unanimously recognized the right of minority francophones to manage their educational institutions.
During her career as a lawyer, in 1990 she participated in the founding of the Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Alberta, an organization that aims to improve access to legal services in French in this province of Alberta.
Before taking office, the new judge will be called to testify before the House of Commons justice committee on November 2 to answer questions from MPs. Also speaking at the hearing will be Justice Minister Arif Virani and President of the Independent Advisory Committee on the Appointments of Judges of the Supreme Court of Canada, Wade MacLauchlan.
Former Justice Russell Brown resigned from the nation’s highest court in June. He was subsequently the subject of an investigation by the Judicial Council into allegations of misconduct relating to a social event in the United States in late January.
Mr. Brown has vigorously denied allegations that he was drunk and harassed a group of friends after attending an event at a hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Judicial Council of Canada ended its review when Mr. Brown resigned, saying it no longer had jurisdiction to investigate the matter.
Mr. Brown was appointed to the Supreme Court by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2015.
With the Canadian Press