Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces Independent Advisory Board to help select the next Supreme Court Justice

The Voice of Canada News:

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced the Chair and members of the Independent Advisory Board who will identify candidates to become the next Supreme Court Justice.

The Independent Advisory Board includes:

• The Honourable H. Wade MacLauchlan, C.M., O.P.E.I., former Premier of Prince Edward Island (Chair)
• Reem A. Bahdi, dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor
• The Honourable Richard J. Chartier, former Chief Justice of Manitoba
• Erin M. S. Kleisinger, K.C., partner at the law firm McDougall Gauley LLP
• Bianca Kratt, K.C., partner at the law firm Parlee McLaws LLP
• Carol Anne Lee, O.B.C., co-founder and Chair of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation
• Georgina (Gina) M. Nagano, founder and President of consultancy firm House of Wolf & Associates Inc.
• Jean Teillet, M.S.C., Senior Counsel with the law firm Pape Salter Teillet LLP

Chaired by the Honourable H. Wade MacLauchlan, the Independent Advisory Board will consider applications received through the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs and identify candidates who are jurists of the highest calibre, functionally bilingual, and representative of the diversity of our country. The Independent Advisory Board will submit a shortlist of highly qualified candidates to the Prime Minister for consideration.

This process aims to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Russell Brown. The application period for qualified candidates to the Supreme Court of Canada was open to all qualified applicants from Western Canada and Northern Canada, in recognition of the convention of regional representation.

Quote

“The Supreme Court of Canada is the backbone of our country’s judicial system and plays a critical role in our democracy. This is due in no small part to a long tradition of appointing only the most exceptional and deserving individuals to the court. I am confident that the respected minds sitting on the Independent Advisory Board will help continue this tradition and maintain the highest standards for Canada’s highest court.”-The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Quick Facts

• Justice Brown was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2015. He retired on June 12, 2023.
• In 2016, the Government of Canada announced a new process for Supreme Court of Canada judicial appointments. It included the creation of an independent and non-partisan advisory board to identify qualified and suitable candidates for appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada.
• Since 2022, the Independent Advisory Board has included a member nominated by the Indigenous Bar Association (IBA). This year’s IBA nominee is Jean Teillet.
• The Independent Advisory Board was previously chaired by the Honourable H. Wade MacLauchlan in 2022.
• The Supreme Court of Canada consists of nine judges, including a Chief Justice. They are all appointed by the Governor in Council, and must have been either a judge of a superior court or a member of at least 10 years’ standing of the bar of a province or territory.