Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada announces judicial appointments in the province of Ontario

OTTAWA, ON, March 3, 2025 /CNW/ - The Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments under the judicial application process established in 2016. This process emphasizes transparency, merit, and the diversity of the Canadian population, and will continue to ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of excellence and integrity.

The Honourable Chantal M. Brochu, a Judge of the Ontario Court of Justice in Thunder Bay, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Thunder Bay. Justice Brochu replaces Justice B. Warkentin (Thunder Bay), who resigned effective September 9, 2024.

Michael P.D. Derstine, Partner at Derstine Bariteau Criminal Lawyers in Toronto, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Brampton. Justice Derstine replaces Justice I. Bloom (Brampton), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective December 11, 2024. 

Andrew J. Spurgeon, Counsel at Ross & McBride LLP in Hamilton, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Brantford. Justice Spurgeon replaces Justice R.D. Cornell (Sudbury), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective January 1, 2025. Due to internal court transfers by the Chief Justice, the vacancy is located in Brantford.

Sunil S. Mathai, General Counsel at the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario in Toronto, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Oshawa. Justice Mathai replaces Justice H.K. O'Connell (Durham), who resigned effective September 20, 2024. Due to internal court transfers by the Chief Justice, the vacancy is located in Oshawa.

Robin A. Lepere, Partner at Petrone & Partners in Thunder Bay, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Thunder Bay. Justice Lepere replaces Justice R.D. Gordon (Sudbury), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective June 30, 2024. Due to internal court transfers by the Chief Justice, the vacancy is located in Thunder Bay.

Paula L. Bateman, Partner at KMB Law in Mississauga, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, Family Court, in Newmarket. Justice Bateman replaces Justice R.T. Bennett (Newmarket), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective February 5, 2025.

Vasundhara Naik, Founding Partner at Robins Naik LLP in Ottawa, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, Family Court, in Ottawa. Justice Naik replaces Justice D.L. Summers (Ottawa), who resigned effective December 16, 2024.

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"I wish Justices Brochu, Derstine, Spurgeon, Mathai, Lepere, Bateman, and Naik every success as they take on their new roles. I am confident they will serve Ontarians well as members of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario". 

—The Hon. Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Biographies

Justice Chantal M. Brochu was raised in the small town of Longlac in Northern Ontario.  She studied criminology at the University of Ottawa and went on to obtain her Bachelor of Laws in 1999 from Université de Moncton. She was admitted to the Law Society of Ontario in 2001. 

Justice Brochu is fluent in both English and French. She was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice (OCJ) in 2017 and has served as the Local Administrative Judge for OCJ in Thunder Bay since 2021. She has presided over several family and criminal matters in both official languages. She was also involved in the Post-Covid Decorum Committee and most recently in the Wellness Committee for the Ontario Court of Justice. Prior to her judicial appointment, she was a partner at Buset & Partners LLP in Thunder Bay, practising in a number of areas, and specializing in civil litigation, with a particular focus on insurance law.

Justice Brochu has been a long-time member of the Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario (AJEFO).

Justice Michael P.D. Derstine was born and raised in Toronto. He graduated from the University of Toronto law school in 1992. He was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1993.

Justice Derstine is fluently bilingual. He has been a criminal trial lawyer for over thirty years. He practiced with the firm of Derstine Penman for most of his career which he and now Justice Jennifer Penman founded in 1999. Since her appointment to the Superior Court in 2023, the firm became Derstine Bariteau. Justice Derstine has conducted jury trials in French as well as English. His practice focused on the defense of serious indictable cases. He has conducted more than a hundred homicide trials and has been counsel in many high-profile cases both at trial and on appeal. He has regularly appeared before the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Justice Derstine was the President of the Toronto Lawyers Association, the Editor in Chief of the Toronto Law Journal, and the Chair of Library Co.  He was also an instructor in various continuing legal education and trial advocacy programs throughout his career, including for the Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop, the Ontario Bar Association, and the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute.

Justice Derstine is happily married to Justice Jennifer Penman and is inordinately proud of his two wonderful children, Madeleine and Benjamin.

Justice Andrew J. Spurgeon completed his B.A. and M.A. at York University as well as his LL.B. at Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the bar of Ontario in 1995

Justice Spurgeon spent most of his career practicing civil litigation as an Associate, Partner and then Counsel with Ross & McBride LLP in Hamilton.

Justice Spurgeon has been President of the Hamilton Law Association, a Director of the Advocates Society, a Deputy Judge of the Small Claims Court, an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Western Ontario, a Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers Professional Indemnity Company – LAWPRO.  He is also a recipient of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Distinguished Service Award. In the community, he has been a fifteen-year member of the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board and its' predecessor, a member and Chair of the Board of Directors of Empowerment Squared, a charity which both aids immigrant and refugee children in Hamilton and has also just completed building a Library and Learning Centre in Paynesville, Liberia.

Justice Spurgeon is married to Margot, his wife of 33 years. They have two adult daughters, Betty and Madeleine.

Justice Sunil S. Mathai was born and raised in Mississauga. He received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa. He was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 2004.

Justice Mathai was General Counsel at the Ministry of the Attorney General, where he worked on complex civil litigation, focusing on administrative law, Crown liability and civil appeals. He also conducted criminal appeals at the Court of Appeal for Ontario and prosecutions before the Superior Court of Justice. Before joining the public service, he worked as counsel at Falconers LLP and was an associate at Blake, Cassels & Graydon.

Justice Mathai was an instructor at the Osgoode Professional LLM program and is a co-author of the Annotated Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, 2019. He was one of the Attorney General's representatives on the Civil Rules Committee from 2015 to 2023. In 2024, he was appointed to the Civil Rules Review Working Group, a group tasked with modernizing the Rules of Civil Procedure. In recognition of his work in public law, he received the 2014 Legal Excellence Award from the South Asian Bar Association. In 2022, he was awarded the Carol Creighton Award by the Association of Law Officers of the Crown for his achievements in public service.

Justice Mathai can be found watching Raptors games with his loving wife and two sons.

Justice Robin A. Lepere was born and raised in Thunder Bay. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Lakehead University in 2002. She was the recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Medal. She went on to obtain her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario in 2005. She was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 2006.

Justice Lepere was a partner with Petrone & Partners in Thunder Bay where she had a diverse civil litigation practice with an emphasis on estate litigation, construction litigation and corporate, commercial litigation. She previously represented clients on plaintiff personal injury matters.

Justice Lepere was the Past President of the Thunder Bay Law Association and a Director on the Board of The Advocates' Society. She previously taught at the Bora Laskin Law School as an instructor in the Civil Practice Course.

Justice Lepere spends her spare time with her three active sons.

Justice Paula L. Bateman was born and raised in Mississauga. She obtained her Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Western Ontario in 1985 and then obtained her Masters in Social Work at the University of Toronto in 1986. In 1989, she obtained her LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School. She was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1991. 

Justice Bateman has exclusively worked in family law throughout her career with a focus on high-conflict parenting and complicated property disputes. She focused heavily on her work through the Office of the Children's Lawyer. She appeared before the Ontario Court of Justice, the Superior Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Appeal. In 2024, she became a partner at Keyser Mason Ball LLP.

Justice Bateman has given back to the legal community. She has been a Dispute Resolution Officer in Brampton since 2010. She has served as President of the Peel Law Association and as a Director of Peel Family Mediation Services. She has also presented at numerous Continuous Legal Education Courses to the family bar in Peel.

Justice Bateman lives in Toronto with her husband, Wayne, daughter, Sydney, and their Goldendoodle, Chester. She loves to travel and hike.

Justice Vasundhara Naik was born and raised in India, earning her B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) from the National Law School of India University. She was called to the Bar in New Delhi, India in 1998. She completed an LL.M. in Human Rights and Intellectual Property Law from Lund University, Sweden, in 2003. She was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 2010.

Justice Naik began her legal career in New Delhi with a human rights and criminal defense firm, later specializing in intellectual property law at a boutique firm. She also served as in-house counsel for Cisco Systems in India and as Brand Protection Manager in Singapore. Prior to her appointment to the Bench, she was a founding partner at Robins Naik LLP in Ottawa. She has practiced primarily in family, child protection, and adoption law.

Justice Naik was a panel lawyer for Legal Aid Ontario and the Office of the Children's Lawyer. She has taught Trial and Family Advocacy at the University of Ottawa and served on the board of the Community Legal Services Ottawa Clinic. She volunteered on the Ottawa Superior Court of Justice Child, Youth and Family Services Act Bench and Bar Subcommittee and was the Past President of the Child Protection Defence Bar Association of Ottawa. She has been involved with Indigenous organizations, women's shelters, and grassroots initiatives, offering pro-bono services to marginalized clients, including those facing language barriers.

Justice Naik lives in Ottawa with her partner, Shiv.

Quick Facts

• The Government of Canada has appointed more than 850 judges since November 2015. This includes 223 appointments since the Honourable Arif Virani became Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada on July 26, 2023, a pace of appointments that has no precedent in Canadian history. These exceptional jurists represent the diversity that strengthens Canada. Of these judges, more than half are women, and appointments reflect an increased representation of racialized persons, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQI+, and those who self-identify as having a disability.
  
  
• To support the needs of the courts and improve access to justice for all Canadians, the Government of Canada is committed to increasing the capacity of superior courts. Budget 2022 provided for 22 new judicial positions, along with two associate judges at the Tax Court of Canada. Along with the 13 positions created under Budget 2021, this makes a total of 37 newly created superior court positions. Since Budget 2017, the government has funded 116 new judicial positions.
  
  
• Changes to the Questionnaire for Federal Judicial Appointments were announced in September 2022. The questionnaire continues to provide for a robust and thorough assessment of candidates but has been streamlined and updated to incorporate, among other things, more respectful and inclusive language for individuals to self-identify diversity characteristics.
  
  
• Federal judicial appointments are made by the Governor General, acting on the advice of the federal Cabinet and recommendations from the Minister of Justice.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• The Government of Canada is committed to promoting a justice system in which sexual assault matters are decided fairly, without the influence of myths and stereotypes, and in which survivors are treated with dignity and compassion. Changes to the Judges Act and Criminal Code that came into force on May 6, 2021, mean that in order to be eligible for appointment to a provincial superior court, candidates must agree to participate in continuing education on matters related to sexual assault law and social context, which includes systemic racism and systemic discrimination. The new legislation enhances the transparency of decisions by amending the Criminal Code to require that judges provide written reasons, or enter them into the record, when deciding sexual assault matters.

SOURCE Department of Justice Canada

Contacts: For more information, media may contact: Chantalle Aubertin, Deputy Director, Communications, Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, 613-992-6568, [email protected]; Media Relations: Department of Justice Canada, 613-957-4207, [email protected]