OTTAWA –
The chair of the independent advisory board tasked with helping fill a vacancy on Canada’s Supreme Court said they were looking for a candidate who would be an expert in both criminal and constitutional law.
Wade MacLaughlin, a former premier of Prince Edward Island, spoke before a parliamentary committee today about why the board has shortlisted Mary Moreau, chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, as a candidate for the Supreme Court.
MacLaughlin said Moreau was one of two people the board recommended to Trudeau from a pool of 13 applicants.
Justice Minister Arif Virani, who also testified today, said they need to find a candidate who is functionally bilingual and from western or northern Canada because the court needs to have representatives from all regions of the country.
Former Justice Russell Brown retired from his seat on the top bench in June.
His exit came amid an investigation by the Canadian Judicial Council into an allegation of misconduct against him stemming from an incident in Arizona in January in which he was accused of being drunk and harassing a group – an allegation that Brown had denied.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023.
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