OTTAWA,
ON, May 1, 2024 /CNW/ - The
Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney
General of Canada, today announced
the following appointments under the judicial application process
established in 2016. This process emphasizes transparency, merit,
and the diversity of the Canadian population, and will continue to
ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of
excellence and integrity.
The Honourable Darla A. Wilson, a Judge of the Superior
Court of Justice of Ontario in
Toronto, is appointed a Judge of
the Court of Appeal for Ontario in
Toronto. Justice Wilson replaces Justice A.L. Harvison Young, who elected to become a
supernumerary judge effective September 1,
2023.
The Honourable Lene Madsen, a Judge of the Superior Court
of Justice of Ontario, Family
Court, in Hamilton, is appointed a
Judge of the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Toronto. Justice
Madsen replaces Justice P.
Lauwers, who elected to become a supernumerary judge
effective September 2, 2023.
The Honourable Apple C. Newton-Smith, a Judge of the
Ontario Court of Justice in
Toronto, is appointed a Judge of
the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Toronto. Justice Newton-Smith replaces Justice
P.J. Monahan (Toronto), who was elevated to the Court of
Appeal for Ontario effective
May 11, 2023.
Carissima Mathen,
Professor of Law at the University of
Ottawa Faculty of Law, is appointed a Judge of the Superior
Court of Justice of Ontario in
Toronto. Justice Mathen replaces Justice T.J. McEwen (Toronto), who resigned effective June 30, 2023.
Elizabeth McCarty, Counsel
at the Office of the Children's Lawyer of the Ministry of the
Attorney General of Ontario in
Toronto, is appointed a Judge of
the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, Family Court, in Belleville. Justice
McCarty replaces Justice W.B.
Malcolm (Belleville), who
resigned effective June 23, 2023.
Yvonne D. Fiamengo, Legal
Counsel at the Children's Aid Society of Toronto, is appointed a Judge of the Superior
Court of Justice of Ontario,
Family Court, in Newmarket.
Justice Fiamengo replaces Justice
J.E. Hughes (Oshawa), who elected to become a supernumerary
judge effective July 30, 2023. Due to
internal court transfers by the Chief Justice, the vacancy is
located in Newmarket.
Quote
"I wish Justices Wilson, Madsen, Newton-Smith, Mathen, McCarty,
and Fiamengo every success as they take on their new roles. I am
confident they will serve Ontarians well as members of the Court of
Appeal for Ontario and the
Superior Court of Justice of Ontario."
—The Hon. Arif Virani, Minister
of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Biographies
Justice Darla A.
Wilson received a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's
University in 1981, and a Bachelor of Laws from Queen's University
in 1984. She was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1986.
Justice Wilson was previously a
partner with Lawson McGrenere LLP in Toronto, where she practiced exclusively in
the area of civil litigation. She carried on her practice
throughout Ontario defending
hospitals and other health care facilities on negligence claims,
general insurance defence work including occupier's liability,
motor vehicle and municipal negligence claims as well as
representing plaintiffs in personal injury claims. She was an
instructor in Trial Advocacy at the University
of Toronto Law School, as well as a Director of the
Advocates' Society and a member of the Board of Directors of the
Medico-Legal Society. In 2007, Justice
Wilson was appointed to the Superior Court of Justice in
Toronto. Since February 2020, she has been the Civil Team Lead
for trials in Toronto. She was a
member of the Moot Court Council at Queen's Law School and sat on
the Board of Directors of the Ontario Superior Court Judges
Association.
Justice Wilson is an avid
long-distance runner and ran the Boston Marathon in 2010 and the
Berlin Marathon in 2015.
Justice Lene
Madsen obtained an honours BA from McGill University in 1992 and a Master of
Environmental Studies from York
University in 2000. She earned a Bachelor of Laws (2002) and
a Master of Laws (2012) from Osgoode Hall, York University. She was admitted to the Bar of
Ontario in 2003.
At the time of her appointment to the Superior Court of Justice
of Ontario in 2016, Justice Madsen was a principal mediator with
Bluewater Mediation in London. She
was previously an associate with Epstein Cole LLP. Her legal
practice focused mainly on counsel-assisted mediation, the majority
of which resulted in comprehensive settlements. She also conducted
numerous arbitrations leading up to her appointment to the Superior
Court of Justice of Ontario.
Justice Apple C.
Newton-Smith graduated from McGill in 1994 earning
a Jt. Hons B.A. in English and Philosophy. She obtained her LL.B.
from Queen's University in 1997 and was called to the Bar of
Ontario in 1999.
Justice Newton-Smith was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice in 2019. Prior to her
appointment to the Ontario Court
of Justice, she was a partner at Berkes Newton-Smith. She practised
as a criminal defence lawyer at both the trial and appellate level
and appeared regularly at all levels of court for 20 years.
Justice Newton-Smith was a Vice-President of the Criminal
Lawyer's Association. She sat on the Board of the Pro Bono Inmate
Appeals Program at the Ontario
Court of Appeal, McGill Women in
Leadership and Philanthropy, and the Cottingham Public School
Parent Council. She was actively involved in education and
mentorship in various capacities. She was an adjunct professor at
the University of Toronto Faculty of
Law where she taught Evidence and Trial Advocacy and an instructor
in the criminology department at Metropolitan University. She is an
editor of the Law Society of Ontario's lawyer licensing materials and was
chair of the Ontario Judicial Education Network (OJEN) Toronto committee.
Justice Newton-Smith resides in Toronto with her husband, their three sons and
a beagle.
Justice Carissima
Mathen grew up in Montreal. She attended McGill University, obtaining an honours BA in
philosophy and political science in 1989. After earning her LLB
from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1992, she was admitted to the Law
Society of Ontario in 1994. In
2002, she received an LLM from Columbia
University, graduating as a Stone Scholar.
Justice Mathen joined the
University of Ottawa in 2011 where she
was promoted to Full Professor and served a term as Vice Dean
Academic of the English common law program. She taught law full
time at the University of New Brunswick
in 2002-2011. After her call to the bar, she spent seven years
working for the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)
where she pursued path-breaking Charter of Rights
litigation.
Justice Mathen has published over
fifty articles and numerous books, among them the award-winning
monograph Courts Without Cases: The Law and Politics of Advisory
Opinions (2019), The Tenth Justice (with Michael Plaxton) (2020), and (expected in 2024)
Decoding the Court: Legal Data Insights from the Supreme Court
of Canada. She was
General Editor of the casebook Canadian Constitutional Law, 6th
Edition (2022). She holds several legal and academic honours,
including the David W. Mundell Medal and the Law Society
Medal.
Justice Mathen enjoys travel,
cooking, dance and spending time with her husband, Jason, and dog,
Bolo
Justice Elizabeth
McCarty received her LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law
School in 1996 after obtaining her BA (First Class Honours) from
Dalhousie University in 1993. She
was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1998.
Justice McCarty has spent most of
her career representing children in family law matters at the
Office of the Children's Lawyer (OCL) of the Ministry of the
Attorney General of Ontario. She
co-managed the OCL's adoption and openness programs and she has
appeared at all levels of court in Ontario.
Justice McCarty was a member of
the Ontario Bar Association's Child and Youth Section Executive.
She has co-chaired the OBA's
Advanced Issues in Child Protection Law for the past three years
and is a frequent presenter at continuing education programs. She
worked with the Ontario Association for Family Mediation to help
develop a program to certify openness mediators and she has written
extensively on child protection related issues. She
previously served on the Board of Trustees of Grandview Children's
Centre, the Family Law Rules Committee and has been involved in
various roles with her children's hockey teams.
Justice McCarty and her husband
Jay have three adult children who are currently attending
university. She enjoys gardening and long hikes with her family and
her dog.
Justice Yvonne D.
Fiamengo obtained her Law degree from the
University of Alberta, Faculty of Law
in 1997, after obtaining her Bachelor of Arts degree from
York University in 1992. She was called
to the Ontario Bar in 1999.
Justice Fiamengo joined the
Children's Aid Society of Toronto
as Legal Counsel in 2002. Over the last 22 years, she has
represented the Children's Aid Society of Toronto before all levels of court in
Ontario and at the Child and
Family Services Review Board. In 2000-2002, she worked in
association with a small firm in North
York, where she had her first practical exposure to Family
Law, acting on behalf of parents both in the domestic and child
welfare court. She began her legal career practicing civil
litigation in a mid-sized insurance defence firm in downtown
Toronto.
Justice Fiamengo has been a
member of the 311 Open Bar Education Committee and a regular
presenter at Continuing Professional Development Programs. She was
on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Alopecia Areata
Foundation (CANAAF), actively promoting their important work in
supporting individuals and families impacted by this unpredictable
disease.
Justice Fiamengo is the proud
single parent of her teenage son, and they can often be found at
hockey arenas and baseball parks across Toronto.
Quick Facts
- The Government of Canada has
appointed more than 730 judges since November 2015. This includes 103 appointments
since the Honourable Arif Virani became Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of Canada on
July 26, 2023.These exceptional
jurists represent the diversity that strengthens Canada. Of these judges, more than half are
women, and appointments reflect an increased representation of
racialized persons, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQI+, and those who
self-identify as having a disability.
- To support the needs of the courts and improve access to
justice for all Canadians, the Government of Canada is committed to increasing the capacity
of superior courts. Budget 2022 provides for 22 new judicial
positions, along with two associate judges at the Tax Court of
Canada. Along with the 13
positions created under Budget 2021, this makes a total of 37 newly
created superior court positions. Since Budget 2017, the government
has funded 116 new judicial positions.
- Changes to the Questionnaire for Federal Judicial Appointments
were announced in September 2022. The
questionnaire continues to provide for a robust and thorough
assessment of candidates but has been streamlined and updated to
incorporate, among other things, more respectful and inclusive
language for individuals to self-identify diversity
characteristics.
- Federal judicial appointments are made by the Governor General,
acting on the advice of the federal Cabinet and recommendations
from the Minister of Justice.
- The Judicial Advisory Committees across Canada play a key role in evaluating judicial
applications. There are 17 Judicial Advisory Committees, with each
province and territory represented.
- Significant reforms to the role and structure of the Judicial
Advisory Committees, aimed at enhancing the independence and
transparency of the process, were announced on October 20, 2016.
- The Government of Canada is
committed to promoting a justice system in which sexual assault
matters are decided fairly, without the influence of myths and
stereotypes, and in which survivors are treated with dignity and
compassion. Changes to the Judges Act and Criminal
Code that came into force on May 6,
2021, mean that in order to be eligible for appointment to a
provincial superior court, candidates must agree to participate in
continuing education on matters related to sexual assault law and
social context, which includes systemic racism and systemic
discrimination. The new legislation enhances the transparency of
decisions by amending the Criminal Code to require that
judges provide written reasons, or enter them into the record, when
deciding sexual assault matters.
SOURCE Department of Justice
Canada