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

OTTAWA, ON, Feb. 20, 2023 /CNW/ - The Honourable David Lametti, 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 Éric Dufour, a Judge of the Court of Québec in Montréal, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montréal. Justice Dufour replaces Justice S.C. Tessier (Gatineau), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective June 5, 2022. The Chief Justice has transferred Justice A.F. Gagnon (Montréal) into this vacancy. The vacancy is therefore located in Montréal.

Eleni Yiannakis, Partner at IMK LLP in Montréal, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montréal. Justice Yiannakis replaces Justice M. Castonguay (Montréal), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective June 22, 2022.

Sébastien Pierre-Roy, a sole practitioner in Sherbrooke, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the districts of Saint-François and Bedford. Justice Pierre-Roy replaces Justice G. Dumas (Sherbrooke), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective May 1, 2022.

Annie Émond, a sole practitioner in Montréal, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montréal. Justice Émond replaces Justice G. Morrison (Montréal), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective October 29, 2022.

Quote

"I wish Justices Dufour, Yiannakis, Pierre-Roy, and Émond every success as they take on their new roles. I am confident they will serve the people of Quebec well as members of the Superior Court."

—The Hon. David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Biographies

Justice Éric Dufour has a Bachelor of Laws from Université Laval and was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1988.

Prior to his appointment to the Superior Court, Justice Dufour was a justice of the Court of Quebec and deputy coordinator of the Administrative and Appeal Division. From 1998 to 2017, he was counsel at the Contentieux du Procureur général du Québec. He has led numerous cases in administrative, constitutional and civil liability law at all levels, including the Supreme Court of Canada. From 1989 to 1998, he was counsel for the Agence du revenu du Québec, litigating as defence counsel on appeals of assessments and in prosecutions for criminal proceedings.

Justice Dufour served on the Council of the Bar of Montréal under the supervision of the Right Honourable Richard Wagner, C.J.C., and President Allan Stein, Ad. E. He chaired the Court of Appeal of Quebec Liaison Committee. He taught law of evidence at the École du Barreau du Québec and was an instructor at the Seminaire sur les techniques de plaidoiries. In 2011, he was appointed to receive the Medal of the Bar of Montréal on behalf of the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel.

Justice Dufour lives in Montréal with his spouse, Louis Allard, and their son, Vincent Dufour-Allard.

Justice Eleni Yiannakis received a Bachelor of Laws from the Université de Sherbrooke in 1996, a Master of Laws from McGill University in 1999, and a Certificate in Common Law from the University of Toronto in 2000. She was called to the Bar of Quebec in 2000.

Justice Yiannakis is perfectly trilingual. She speaks French, English, and Greek. She began her career at Fasken, where she worked as an articling student, lawyer and partner. In 2016, she joined IMK and became a partner. Her practice focused on commercial disputes, including collective actions, injunctions and contractual disputes, mostly in the field of aeronautics, construction law, municipal law, disputes involving fraud, and insolvency disputes. She taught the obligations course at the École du Barreau du Québec from 2007 to 2018.

Justice Yiannakis is married to Luc Morin and is the mother of two boys.

Justice Sébastien Pierre-Roy earned a Bachelor of Laws from the Université de Montréal in 1999. He was called to the Barreau du Québec in 2001.

Justice Pierre-Roy initially practised law within McCarthy Tétrault's litigation group. He subsequently became a partner at Chenette, Litigation Boutique, where he developed a practice in professional law, media law, insurance law and academic law. An experienced litigator, he has represented clients before all courts, from the Court of Quebec to the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2020, he founded his own law firm with the objective of devoting more time to teaching, pro bono mandates and dispute prevention and resolution processes. At the time of his appointment to the Superior Court, he was a certified mediator and arbitrator.

Justice Pierre-Roy taught law at the Université de Sherbrooke and the École du Barreau. Because of his keen interest in ethics and professional conduct issues, he became a member of the Barreau du Québec Disciplinary Council and of the Ethics and Professional Responsibility Subcommittee of the Canadian Bar Association.

Justice Pierre-Roy resides in Sherbrooke. He shares all aspects of his life with his wife, Prof. Marie-Pierre Robert. Together, they are the proud parents of two remarkable teenagers.

Justice Annie Émond received her Bachelor of Laws from the Université de Sherbrooke in 1998 and a Diploma in Notarial Law from the Université de Sherbrooke in 1999.

After an internship in 2001 at the Bureau d'aide juridique de Montréal, Criminal Law Section, Justice Émond joined the criminal law firm Boro Polnicky Lighter. For more than 20 years, she defended the interests of her clients in criminal matters at trial, before a judge and before a judge and jury. She has appeared before the Court of Appeal of Quebec and the Supreme Court of Canada. She also represented clients in disciplinary matters, acted as amicus curiae for the Superior Court and as decision-maker on the Review Committee of the Commission des services juridiques in Montréal. She has received five awards from various law associations.

Justice Émond has served on two boards of directors, various committees of the Canadian Bar Association (Quebec Division) and the Bar of Montréal. She has volunteered her time in the Université de Sherbrooke's Réseau national des étudiants pro bono program and has given several lectures and training courses. For eight years, she taught the legal concepts of cybercrime and electronic evidence at the École polytechnique de Montréal.

Justice Émond lives in Montréal with her wonderful daughter Simone.

Quick Facts

• At the Superior Court level, more than 595 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, 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 provides 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

Chantalle Aubertin, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Justice, 613-992-6568, [email protected]; Media Relations, Department of Justice Canada, 613-957-4207, [email protected]