May 31, 2024 - 20:05
By cbc.ca

Justice minister says he's 'proud' of government's record on appointing judges

The federal justice minister has written a letter to the Supreme Court's chief justice saying he's «proud» of the Liberal government's record on appointing judges.

Justice Minister Arif Virani sent the letter to Chief Justice Robert Wagner a year after Wagner warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that a chronic shortage of judges was putting «democratic institutions» at risk.

Chief Justice Wagner said at the time that there were 85 vacancies out of about 1,200 positions.

Virani's statement also comes just a few months after a Federal Court justice issued a ruling directing the federal government to step up the pace of judicial appointments to address an «untenable» number of vacancies.

The federal government announced in March that it's appealing that decision.

Virani's letter to Chief Justice Wager attempted to address those criticisms. In it, the minister said that since becoming justice minister and attorney general in July 2023, his «top priority has been filling federal judicial vacancies.»

«I am proud that our government has appointed judges at a rate unprecedented in Canadian history; more than 740 judges since November 2015, including 113 since my appointment 10 months ago,» he wrote to Wagner.

The federal government appoints judges to the superior courts and courts of appeal in each province, the Federal Court, the Tax Court and the Supreme Court.

There are currently 939 judges in office and another 256 supernumeraries — retired justices who now sit on the bench part time — with 57 vacancies.

Those vacancies persist, Virani said, because of internal factors such as retirements and judges being elevated to higher courts.