Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould has announced another round of judicial appointments to Federal Courts and for Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta.
The announcement was made on June 23 in Ottawa.
John B. Laskin, a partner at Torys LLP, has been appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, replacing Justice E.R. Dawson. In addition, William F. Pentney, Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada, has been appointed a judge of the Federal Court, replacing Justice M.L. Phelan.
In Ontario, five appointments have been made: Justice Andras Schreck, Markus Koehnen, Darlene Summers, Cynthia Petersen and Sally Gomery.
Schreck, a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, is now an appointed judge of the Superior Court of Justice and for the Province of Ontario in Toronto. He precedes Justice N.L. Backhouse in this position.
Koehnen, who practised complex commercial litigation at McMillan LLP for 29 years, is replacing Justice F.J.C. Newbould as a Superior Court of Justice judge. He will also be a judge for the Province of Ontario in Toronto.
Summers, a sole practitioner with Thompson Summers Family Law, has been appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Justice, the Province of Ontario as well as a member of the Ottawa Family Court. She succedes Justice V.J. MacKinnon, who was elected as a supernumerary judge starting Sept. 5.
Replacing Justice M. Donohue, Petersen, a partner at Goldblatt Partners LLP, has been appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Justice and for the Province of Ontario in Brampton.
Finally for Ontario, Gomery, a senior partner at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, has been appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Justice and for the province in Ottawa effective July 1.
For Quebec, six appointments have been made: Étienne Parent, Jean-François Émond, Simon Ruel, Jocelyn F. Rancourt, Peter Kalichman and Marie-France Vincent.
Parent, a judge of the Quebec Court of Appeal, has been appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Saint-Maurice (Shawinigan), replacing Justice R.W. Pronovost.
Superior Court of Quebec judge Rancourt has been appointed a judge on the Quebec Court of Appeal in Quebec City, replacing Parent. Émond, replacing Justice Simon Ruel, has also been appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for Quebec City. Previously, Émond served as a judge of the Quebec Court of Appeal.
Ruel has been elevated from the Quebec Court of Appeal, returning to the Superior Court of Quebec in Shawinigan. Replacing Rancourt is Vincent, a partner at Baribeau Vincent LLP, as a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec in Quebec City.
Lastly, Kalichman, a partner at Irving Mitchell Kalichman LLP, has been appointed a Superior Court of Quebec judge for the district of Montreal, replacing Justice Danielle Mayrand.
On the west coast, British Columbia has three new appointments: Leonard “Len” Marchand, Jr., Palbinder Kaur Shergill and Michael J. Brundrett.
All three judges are appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Marchand is appointed in Kelowna replacing Justice A.J. Beams; Shergill, a sole practitioner with Shergill & Company, is replacing Justice Elizabeth A. Arnold-Bailey in New Westminister and is the first Sikh judge ever appointed in Canada; and Brundrett is appointed in Vancouver, replacing Justice W.J. Harris, who resigned April 30.
In Alberta, Janice Ashcroft, senior legal counsel with the Alberta Human Rights Commission, was appointed a justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta in Calgary.
