Government of Canada announces Federal Court prothonotary appointment
News release
November 22, 2018 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Justice Canada
The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced that Sylvie M. Molgat, a lawyer with Dubuc Osland, is appointed a prothonotary of the Federal Court in Ottawa. She fills a new prothonotary position funded under Budget 2018.
Biography
Born in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Madam Prothonotary Sylvie M. Molgat obtained a B.A. from the University of Winnipeg and completed her law degree at l'Université de Moncton.
After settling in Ottawa, Prothonotary Molgat articled and began her practice with Beament Green. In 1998, she joined the law firm of Dubuc Osland, where her civil litigation practice became focused on Indigenous, employment and administrative law, as well as commercial litigation. In her last 20 years of practice, she was honoured to have had the opportunity to represent First Nations in Alberta and Inuit birthright corporations and municipalities in Nunavut.
Prothonotary Molgat was called to the Ontario Bar in 1993, the Alberta Bar in 2002, and the Nunavut Bar in 2009. During her years of practice, she appeared before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, the Nunavut Court of Justice, the Nunavut Court of Appeal, the Tax Court of Canada, the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, as well as various federal and territorial administrative boards and tribunals.
Fluently bilingual, Prothonotary Molgat is proud of her Franco-Manitoban roots.
Quick facts
Since taking office, the Minister of Justice has made over 230 judicial appointments, including 100 in 2017 – the most a Minister of Justice has made in one year in at least two decades. Of the individuals appointed, over half are women, eight are Indigenous, 20 identify as visible minorities, 13 identify as LGBTQ2, and three identify as persons with disabilities.
Prothonotaries are judicial officers of the Federal Court. They have jurisdiction over a number of procedural and substantive matters, as provided in the Federal Courts Rules.
Their duties generally include case management, interlocutory motion hearings, and mediations. They can also conduct trials for claims of $50,000 or less.
Currently, prothonotaries reside in major centres across the country – in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal – where they preside over each of the Court's weekly motions courts. They also travel across the country as required.
