Schulich School of Law Dean Camille Cameron has been appointed to a new seven-member advisory board that will be tasked with recommending Canada's next Supreme Court justice.
“It is an honour and a privilege to be appointed as a member of this advisory board,” says Dean Cameron. ”I look forward to working with my colleagues in making this important contribution to the justice system in Canada. ”
The panel is part of an overhaul in the way Canada selects a Supreme Court justice, a process the Liberal government has pledged to be transparent, inclusive and accountable to Canadians. Any qualified lawyer or judge will be able to put forward their name for consideration, with the government taking applications for the job in Canada’s highest court until August 24.
The successful candidate will replace Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell, due to retire September 1. Justice Cromwell is a former Law professor at Dalhousie.
Selected by the legal community
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has chosen the Right Honourable Kim Campbell, former prime minister of Canada, to chair the advisory board. Its members will be responsible for reviewing all submitted applications and, from them, recommending a shortlist of qualified, functionally bilingual candidates for consideration by the prime minister for an appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada. The advisory board will actively seek a balance of genders and candidates represent the diversity of Canadian society.
Four of the panel's members were nominated by the legal community, including a retired judge, two lawyers and Dean Cameron as a legal scholar. In addition to Dean Cameron and Kim Campbell, the members are:
- Jeff Hirsch, president of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and partner with a Winnipeg law firm
- Stephen Kakfwi, former premier of the Northwest Territories, president of the Dene Nation
- Lili-Anna Pereša, president and executive director of Centraide of Greater Montreal
- Richard J. Scott, former Chief Justice of the Manitoba Court of Appeal and current counsel, arbitrator, and mediator at a Winnipeg law firm
- Susan Ursel, senior partner with a Toronto law firm and chair of the Canadian component of the African Legal Research Team
Visit the Prime Minister's website for more details on the selection process.