The Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments under the new judicial application process introduced on October 20, 2016. The new process emphasizes transparency, merit, and diversity, and will continue to ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of excellence and integrity.
The Honourable Jean Faullem, a Provincial Court Judge in the Province of Quebec, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Québec for the districts of Gatineau, Labelle and Pontiac. Mr. Justice Faullem replaces Mr. Justice P. Dallaire, who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective February 26, 2019.
The Honourable Jeffrey Edwards, a Provincial Court Judge in the Province of Quebec, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Québec for the district of Montréal. Mr. Justice Edwards replaces Madam Justice F. Charbonneau, who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective February 26, 2019.
Anne-France Gagnon, Counsel at Gagnon Lavallée Avocates, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Québec for the district of Montréal. Madam Justice Gagnon fills a position allocated under Bill C-44.
Judith Harvie, Associate General Counsel and Executive Director, Media Law, at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Québec for the district of Montréal. Madam Justice Harvie replaces Mr. Justice M. Peacock, who resigned effective April 12, 2019.
Biographies
At the time of his appointment to the Superior Court of Québec, Justice Faullem was a coordinating judge at the Court of Québec for the Outaouais region.
After obtaining a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sherbrooke in 1993, he joined private law firm Gosselin, Buissière, Bédard, Ouellet in 1994, where he stayed until 1998. In 1999 he completed his Masters of International Law at the University of Ottawa.
After a brief stint in the legal department of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Judge Faullem taught Internet, e-commerce and trade law at the University of Ottawa for a few years. During that time, he also gave various lectures and published law articles.
In 2002, Judge Faullem joined Noël et Associés in Gatineau, where he became a partner a few years later. He practised mainly civil litigation, trade, and municipal law. He argued and managed numerous trial and appeal cases in Quebec and Ontario. Among other things, he defended the principle of procedural immunity of the Quebec government in proceedings introduced outside the province.
Appointed to the Court of Québec in 2013, he sat as puisne judge in the civil and criminal divisions. He also sat on various Court committees, and gave training in civil law and the use of new technologies. He was appointed coordinating judge in July 2018.
Justice Edwards has been a judge of the Court of Québec, Civil Division, in Montréal since his nomination to that Court in January 2014.
Justice Edwards obtained a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Common Law from McGill University in 1986. He also obtained a Doctorate in Law from Université Laval in 1997. As an attorney, Justice Edwards practiced at two law firms. From 1987 to 1997, he practiced with the firm that became De Grandpré Chait. From 1998 to 2014, he practiced at Tutino Edwards Joseph (later Tutino Joseph Grégoire), where he was a partner and head of litigation.
Justice Edwards is the author of several publications in the areas of real estate, construction law, and product liability. He is the author of the book La garantie de qualité du vendeur en droit québécois (The Warranty of Quality of the Seller in Quebec Law).
Justice Edwards is an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law of McGill University. Since 1998, he has taught the law of sale and product liability.
As an attorney, Justice Edwards specialized in real estate, construction law, and product liability. He was also a Chartered Mediator and Chartered Arbitrator in both private disputes and in virtue of certain legislative dispute mechanisms, such as the Quebec Regulation Respecting the Guarantee Plan for New Residential Buildings.
Justice Gagnon is originally from the Gaspé. She completed her licentiate in civil law at the University of Ottawa before being called to the Quebec Bar in 1992. A partner at Gagnon Lavallée in Gatineau, she practised mainly family law as both attorney and mediator. From her first days in practice, she was very active in the Outaouais legal community. She was president of the Young Bar Association, sat on the Outaouais Bar Association, and served in various positions in the Association des avocates en droit de la famille (Outaouais), including as Chair.
Knowledge transfer is at the heart of her practice. She taught family law at Quebec's École du Barreau, and civil litigation, dispute resolution, and family law at the University of Ottawa. She also taught family law to lawyers in the region. Intent on demystifying law and making it accessible to the public, she wrote and presented numerous radio commentaries on family law on Radio-Canada (Ottawa-Gatineau).
Justice Harvie earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Montréal and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1997. She was clerk to the Honourable Charles D. Gonthier of the Supreme Court of Canada, after which she practised civil litigation at Ogilvy Renault (now Norton Rose Fulbright). In 1999, she joined CBC/Radio-Canada, where she practised media law, constitutional law and civil liberties, administrative law, civil liability, intellectual property, construction law, access to information, and penal and criminal law.
In 2015, she was promoted to Associate General Counsel and Executive Director, Media Law. As such, she supervised CBC/Radio-Canada's team of media lawyers in Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver. During her career, she defended CBC/Radio-Canada's interests before courts in every jurisdiction, including the Supreme Court of Canada.
Justice Harvie acted as chair of the national and provincial sections for constitutional and human rights law of the Canadian Bar Association. She was also Chair of the board of directors of the Maison de Radio-Canada daycare centre.
Throughout her career, she has given numerous lectures and courses, namely in image rights, libel, the protection of journalistic sources, publication bans, search warrants, and class action suits. She was recently a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at McGill University, where she taught media law.
Quick facts
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At the Superior Court level, more than 300 judges have been appointed since November 2015. These exceptional jurists represent the diversity that strengthens Canada. Of these judges, more than half are women, and appointments reflect an increased representation of visible minorities, Indigenous, LGBTQ2S and those who self-identify as having a disability.
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The Government of Canada is committed to promoting access to justice for all Canadians. To improve outcomes for Canadian families, Budget 2018 will provide funding of $77.2 million over four years to support the expansion of unified family courts, beginning in 2019-2020. This investment in the family justice system will create 39 new judicial positions in Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
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In addition, Budget 2018 provided funding for a further seven judicial positions in Saskatchewan and Ontario, at a cost of $17.1 million over five years.
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The funding outlined in Budget 2018 comes on top of resources allocated under Budget 2017, which created 28 new judicial positions across the country.
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In addition, the Government will invest $6 million over two years, beginning in 2018-2019, to support the judicial discipline process through which allegations of judicial misconduct are investigated. In this way, the Government will ensure that a robust process remains in place to allow Canadians to voice their concerns and submit complaints about judicial conduct to the Canadian Judicial Council and the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs.
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Federal judicial appointments are made by the Governor General, acting on the advice of the federal Cabinet and recommendations from the Minister of Justice.
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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.
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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. Sixteen Judicial Advisory Committees have been reconstituted to date.
