News

For the second consecutive year, Schulich School of Law Dean Camille Cameron has been appointed to a seven-member advisory board that will be tasked with recommending Canada’s next Supreme Court justice. The board will be chaired by former prime minister Kim Campbell for the search that was launched on July 14.

“It is an honour and a privilege to be appointed as a member of this advisory board,” says Cameron. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in making this important contribution to the justice system.”

In addition to Campbell and Cameron, the advisory board consists of the following members:

• Stephen Kakfwi, the former premier of the Northwest Territories and president of the Dene Nation
• Sheila MacPherson (LLB '87), the president-elect of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, a senior lawyer in Yellowknife, and the law clerk of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
• Lili-Anna Pereša, the president and executive director of Centraide of Greater Montreal
• Richard J. Scott, the former Chief Justice of the Manitoba Court of Appeal and a counsel, arbitrator, and mediator at a Winnipeg law firm
• Susan Ursel, a senior partner with a Toronto firm and chair of the Canadian component of the African Legal Research Team

The advisory board will follow the Government’s new Supreme Court of Canada appointments process to identify jurists of the highest calibre who are functionally bilingual and representative of the diversity of our country. In this instance, any qualified candidate from Western Canada or Northern Canada may apply.

After reviewing candidates who apply, the advisory board will submit a shortlist of three to five individuals for consideration by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The justice minister and the advisory board chair will appear before Parliament to discuss the selection process. Members of Parliament and senators from all parties will have the opportunity to take part in a question-and-answer session with the nominee before she or he is appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The applications now being accepted are to identify the next member of the Supreme Court of Canada, following the Dec. 15, 2017, retirement of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.