15 more deputy judges appointed to Nunavut Court of Justice

Nunavut's judiciary is about to get some help. Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould announced 15 deputy judge appointments to the territory on Wednesday.

"The Nunavut Court of Justice is delighted at Minister Wilson-Raybould's appointment of the new complement of Deputy Judges for Nunavut," said Nunavut's senior judge, Justice Neil Sharkey, in a statement.

"These judges will provide valuable assistance to the Court, particularly in light of the two vacancies on the resident Bench."

Deputy judges are judges from other jurisdictions who can come preside over Nunavut cases. In the same announcement, Wilson-Raybouldappointed two new deputy judges to the N.W.T. Supreme Court and five to theSupreme Court of Yukon.

The Nunavut appointments bring that territory'scomplement of deputy judges up to at least 55. Nunavuthad as many as 92 in 2013, but lost nearly half of them over the past two years.

• Nunavut's 2 vacant judge positions won't be filled until next year
• Judicial appointments can't come soon enough for Nunavut

Relying heavily on deputy judges

Despite the decrease, the Nunavut Court of Justice has relied heavily on deputy judges recently, using44 weeks worth of deputy judgeslast year, up from using 22 weeks in 2013. The increased use was necessary because Nunavut's resident judges were becoming tied up in longer and more complicated cases, according to the Nunavut Court of Justice's 2015 annual report.

The new deputy judges are as follows.

Nunavut

• Alison J. Beames, Supreme Court of British Columbia (Kelowna)
• Thomas Carey, Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Windsor)
• Dev Dley, Supreme Court of British Columbia (Kamloops)
• Geoffrey R.J. Gaul, Supreme Court of British Columbia (Victoria)
• William H. Goodridge, Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Corner Brook)
• William G. E. Grist, Supreme Court of British Columbia (Chilliwack)
• Alan P. Ingram, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Family Court Branch (Peterborough)
• Miriam A. Maisonville, Supreme Court of British Columbia (Vancouver)
• Hugh R. McLean, Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Smiths Falls)
• Michael T. Megaw, Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan, Family Law Division (Regina)
• Pierre L. Muise, Nova Scotia Supreme Court (Yarmouth)
• Gregory M. Mulligan, Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Barrie)
• D. Blair Nixon, Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Calgary)
• Robert F. Scott, Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Belleville)
• James W. Williams, Supreme Court of British Columbia (Vancouver)

N.W.T.

• D. Blair Nixon, Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Calgary)
• Virginia Schuler (Retired, Northwest Territories Supreme Court)

Yukon

• Myra B. Bielby, Alberta Court of Appeal
• Deborah J. McCawley, (supernumeraryjudge, Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench)
• Gisele M. Miller, Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Milton)
• D. Blair Nixon, Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Calgary)
• Virginia Schuler (Retired, Supreme Court of Northwest Territories)