Manitoba King’s Bench chief justice rumoured front-runner for Supreme Court appointment

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/10/2023 (1049 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Calls are growing for Manitoba to be represented on the Supreme Court of Canada following the resignation of an Alberta justice earlier this year.

Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal wouldn’t comment on speculation he’s applied to be considered for the Supreme Court position vacated by Alberta justice Russell Brown in June. Joyal’s office declined a recent interview request.

Joyal is rumoured to be a front-runner for the top court, which requires its judges to be bilingual in English and French.

In 2006, former prime minister Stephen Harper named Marshall Rothstein, then a Federal Court of Appeal justice in Ottawa, to the Supreme Court. Rothstein was a Winnipegger who graduated from and taught at the University of Manitoba before his appointment to the federal bench in 1992.

Harper was criticized for Rothstein’s appointment, as he was not bilingual. In 2016, the Trudeau government changed the process of appointing judges to Canada’s highest court by introducing a requirement for functional bilingualism in both official languages.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must select a replacement from a list of approved candidates. Trudeau announced the search for a new Supreme Court judge in June, and with the court due to resume sitting Wednesday, questions remain about when the prime minister will announce the new appointment, and about who he’s chosen.

By now, the federal judicial appointment committee has had to submit its report to Canada’s justice minister, and stakeholder consultations about the candidates are required before the prime minister makes his pick.

A Manitoba Supreme Court appointment matters symbolically and practically, in terms of the judicial experience a Manitoba judge would bring to the top court, said Gerard Kennedy, an assistant law professor at the University of Alberta who was previously a member of the University of Manitoba’s law faculty.

“It would be meaningful to the legal profession to have one of their own appointed.”–Gerard Kennedy

“It would be meaningful to the legal profession to have one of their own appointed,” Kennedy said.

Beyond its geography, Manitoba has a reputation as being more centrist than conservative, acting as “somewhat of a bridge, politically and culturally,” between east and west, he added. Kennedy said Manitoba courts have also been seen as “vanguards” in reconciliation efforts when dealing with cases that involve Indigenous peoples.

Veteran Winnipeg litigation lawyer Robert Tapper, who holds a King’s Counsel title in honour of his long career, was a “baby lawyer” when he argued at the Supreme Court for the first time. Tapper said he believes Joyal would be overwhelmingly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. But Tapper said he’s not privy to any insider speculation about the appointment. He said he’s “been through a lot of judges” and would be sad to see Joyal leave the Manitoba bench if he is appointed to the top court.

“It would be nice to see a Manitoba judge (at that level),” Tapper said. “We haven’t had one for a long, long time.”

Brown retired in June after a judicial complaint was filed over his behaviour at an Arizona hotel bar in January. Brown was accused of harassing female patrons while he was intoxicated. He served as a judge in Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut before being appointed to the Supreme Court in 2015. Tradition dictates the departure of a Western Canada judge merits a replacement from one of the western provinces.

“It would be nice to see a Manitoba judge (at that level). We haven’t had one for a long, long time.”–Litigation lawyer Robert Tapper

The Globe and Mail reported in mid-September that Joyal could be a leading contender, along with Alberta Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Mary Moreau, amid what may be a sparse pool of francophone candidates. The application process is confidential.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com