Tax Court, BC Court of Appeal, Quebec Superior Court welcome new judges

Minister of Justice and Attorney General Arif Virani has announced several judicial appointments to the Tax Court of Canada, BC Court of Appeal, and Quebec Superior Court.

Tax Court of Canada

Minister Virani has named J. Scott Bodie and Edward M. Cook new judges of the Tax Court of Canada.

Bodie was a director of tax planning at Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) in Calgary. He obtained his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta and Master of Laws from the University of British Columbia (UBC). He was admitted to the Law Society of Alberta in 1992. Before joining AIMCo, Bodie practised tax and corporate law in Calgary for nearly 30 years with Bennett Jones LLP, Fraser Milner Casgrain (now Denton’s LLP) and Cook Duke Cox (now Miller Thomson LLP).

Cook was a partner at PwC Law LLP in Ottawa. He obtained his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1999 and the BC Bar in 2014. He specializes in tax dispute resolution and tax policy. Before joining PwC Law, he spent 20 years with the federal government, holding increasingly senior positions with the Canada Revenue Agency, the Department of Justice and the Department of Finance, where he was director general of the Tax Legislation Division. Cook also practised tax law with BC’s Ministry of Justice and Fraser Milner Casgrain.

Court of Appeal of British Columbia

The BC Court of Appeal has welcomed the appointment of BC Supreme Court judge Janet Winteringham as a justice of appeal. She obtained a law degree from UBC in 1991 and was admitted to the BC bar in 1992. Before her appointment to the bench, Winteringham practised criminal and constitutional law at Winteringham MacKay Law Corporation.

In 2009, Winteringham was appointed King’s Counsel. In 2014, she was appointed a fellow of the International Society of Barristers. She had also served as an adjunct professor at UBC, a frequent lecturer at law conferences, and a discussion leader at the Inns of Court session addressing ethical problems in criminal law.

Superior Court of Quebec

Minister Virani has also announced the appointment of Ian Demers as a judge of the Quebec Superior Court for the district of Montréal. Before his appointment, he was a general counsel with the Department of Justice Canada. He appeared for the federal government before the Supreme Court of Canada, Quebec and federal courts in constitutional law, administrative law, civil litigation, and tax law.

Demers was a lecturer at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), where he taught constitutional law, advanced constitutional law, administrative law, judicial review, civil law of evidence, immigration law, and federal U.S. constitutional law. He also taught administrative law at the École du Barreau du Québec for five years and has published in the Collection de droit since 2017.

Minister Virani congratulated the new appointees and expressed confidence that they will perform well in their new roles.