OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has elevated a fluently bilingual Quebecker, Justice Richard Wagner, to become the country’s top judge, replacing the retiring Beverley McLachlin as leader of the Supreme Court of Canada and Chief Justice of Canada.It’s an appointment that signals continuity and a desire to hew to tradition.The Montreal-born Wagner, 60, a former commercial and civil law litigator and judge on Quebec’s trial and appeal courts, means Trudeau has opted to stick to the custom of rotating the plum chief justice job between common law and civil law judges, effectively alternating it between Anglophone and francophone judges.Read more:Bilingual Supreme Court ‘essential’, Quebec Bar Association president says at Richard Wagner’s swearing-inSupreme Court nominee Richard Wagner sees Charter as evolving documentIt also means Trudeau keeps peace in Quebec where the legal and political community had lined up behind an appointment from that province as the hurly-burly of an election year approaches.The Bar of Montreal and the Quebec National Assembly had formally pressed Trudeau, via letters and a unanimous resolution in the legislature, to adhere to the practice of switching between judges from Quebec and the rest of Canada– which hasn’t always been followed, including by Trudeau’s own father when he was prime minister.“It is an honour to name the Honourable Richard Wagner as the new Chief Justice of Canada,” said Trudeau in announcing the appointment.“I have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead the highest court of Canada, an institution with a long and respected history of judicial independence and excellence. The judiciary, the legal profession, and all Canadians will be well served by his dedication to upholding the laws and Constitution upon which this country is founded.”Lawyer Eugene Meehan, with the Ottawa law firm Supreme Advocacy LLP, welcomed the appoint ...
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