Ottawa appoints 15 new judges to bench amid complaints from Alberta [corrected]

Early days and will see whether this trend towards more women judicial appointments continues throughout the year. One visible minority and one Indigenous people also sent signals of increased diversity:

The Liberal government has appointed its first judges since coming to power seven months ago, after a senior Alberta judge complained publicly that the courts were growing desperate, and as vacancies nationwide approach the peak numbers seen in the Harper years.

Of the 15 people appointed, 10 are women, in contrast to the decade-long Harper era, in which just 30 per cent of judges chosen were female [of the judges replaced by the new appointments, 9 were men]. All three of Friday’s appointments to powerful appeal courts – two in Alberta, and one to the Federal Court of Appeal in Ottawa – went to women.

But the appointments barely made a dent for the province with the most vacancies, according to Chief Justice Neil Wittmann of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench. He told The Globe in April that the lack of judicial appointments had left his court in “desperate shape.” Of the six Alberta appointments on Friday, two were promotions from his court to the Court of Appeal, leaving the Court of Queen’s Bench with a net gain of just two judges – of which one was filling a vacancy from last summer.

“Marginal at best,” he said in an interview on Friday of the effect of the appointments.

In Calgary, he said, anyone trying to book a family or civil court trial of more than five days must wait 97 weeks, until April, 2018; for a short trial, the wait is 42 weeks. In Edmonton, long trials and short are being booked 66 weeks away. Criminal trials of more than five days are being booked 55 weeks ahead in Calgary and Edmonton, and nearly as many for short trials.

Liberal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has promised to make the appointment process more transparent and increase gender and racial diversity.

“As promised, the Government has moved forward on filling urgent judicial vacancies by drawing on existing lists of recommended candidates,” spokeswoman Joanne Ghiz said in an e-mail.

“The Government will be considering ways to strengthen the judicial appointments process, guided by the principles of openness, transparency, and merit. It is also committed to ensuring that Canada’s judiciary truly reflects the face of Canada. Significant reforms of the judicial appointments process will take time, and require appropriate consultations, including with the judiciary, the legal community and the general public.”

Source: Ottawa appoints 15 new judges to bench amid complaints from Alberta – The Globe and Mail