ALBERTA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED

OTTAWA, June 24, 2005 – Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments:

Dennis Thomas, Q.C., of Edmonton is appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. He replaces Mr. Justice D. Perras who has elected supernumerary status.

Mr. Justice Thomas received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta in 1968 and a Master of Laws from the University of London in 1970. He was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1969 and to the Northwest Territories Bar in 1975. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1988.

At the time of his appointment, he was a partner with the firm Fraser Milner Casgrain and practised primarily in the area of environmental regulatory law.

In the past, he has been a frequent panellist and lecturer for the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of Alberta, the Alberta Forest Products Association, the Alberta Chamber of Resources and at the Cambridge Lectures.

Sheilah L. Martin, Q.C., of Calgary is appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. She replaces Mr. Justice D.I. MacLeod who has elected supernumerary status.

Madam Justice Martin received a Bachelor of Common law and a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University in 1981. She received a Masters of Law from the University of Alberta in 1983 and a Doctorate of Juridical Sciences from the University of Toronto in 1991. She was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1989 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1996.

At the time of her appointment, she was a partner with the firm Code Hunter in Calgary where she practised primarily in the area of civil litigation. Madam Justice Martin is a former Dean and currently a Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Calgary.

Madam Justice Martin is a member of the Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute. In addition, she is a former member of the Advisory Committee for the National Judicial Institute on Education Programs for Federally Appointed Judges and was a member of the Joint Committee of the Canadian Bar, the law Society of Alberta, the Faculties of Law at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta on Gender Equality in the Legal Profession in Alberta.

She is also a former member of the Council of Law Deans and the Alberta Institute for Law Reform. She is a frequent lecturer and the author of several legal publications.

These appointments are effective immediately.

-30-

Ref.:

François Giroux
Judicial Affairs Advisor
Office of the Minister of Justice
(613) 992-4621