(OTTAWA) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau launched the selection process on Tuesday to replace Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown.
Qualified individuals interested in the position must be “effectively bilingual and reflective of the diversity” of Canada. In this case, those interested must have a connection to Western Canada or the North, to respect the tradition of regional representation.
Supreme Court justices are chosen from among the judges of a provincial Superior Court or from among lawyers who have been called for at least 10 years at the bar of a province or territory.
The call for applications is open for one month, until July 21. The Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments will then draft a shortlist of candidates, which will be presented to Prime Minister Trudeau.
The chair and members of this Advisory Committee will be announced “over the next few weeks”, says the Prime Minister’s Office.
The vacancy was created when former Justice Russell Brown resigned from the nation’s highest court earlier this month. His resignation ended a de facto review by the Judicial Council into allegations of misconduct related to a social event in late January in the United States.
Mr Brown has strenuously denied allegations that he drunkenly harassed a group of friends after an event at a hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Canadian Judicial Council ended its review when Mr Brown resigned, saying he no longer had jurisdiction to investigate the matter.
Mr. Brown was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2015 by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.