Department of Justice

ONTARIO JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED

OTTAWA, May 26, 1999 – The Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments:

Mr. Justice James C. MacPherson, a judge of the Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) in Toronto, is appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal for Ontario. He replaces Mr. Justice Coulter A. Osborne, who was appointed Associate Chief Justice of Ontario.

Mr. Justice MacPherson graduated from Dalhousie University with an LL.B. in 1974, and from Cambridge University with an LL.M. in 1976 as well as a Diploma in Comparative Legal Studies in 1977. He was called to the Saskatchewan Bar in 1982 and to the Ontario Bar in 1989.

Prior to his appointment in 1993 to the Ontario Court of Justice, General Division, Mr. Justice MacPherson was Dean of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, a position he had held since 1988. He also served as Constitutional Advisor to the Government of Ontario in 1990 and to the Government of Saskatchewan in 1992. From 1977 to 1984, he chaired and served as a member of various human rights tribunals. Mr. Justice MacPherson was Executive Legal Officer of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1985 to 1988.

Mr. Justice Robert J. Sharpe, a judge of the Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) in Toronto, is appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal for Ontario. He fills a newly created position.

Mr. Justice Sharpe received his LL.B. from the University of Toronto in 1970, and his Ph.D. from Oxford University in 1974. He was also called to the Ontario Bar that year.

At the time of his appointment to the Ontario Court of Justice, General Division in 1995,     Mr. Justice Sharpe had been Dean of Law at the University of Toronto since 1990, where he had taught law since 1976. He served as Executive Legal Officer for the Supreme Court of Canada from 1988 to 1990. He also acted as counsel for the Student Legal Aid Society and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Lorna-Lee Snowie, of Guelph is appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) in Guelph. She replaces Mr. Justice G. Burke Smith, who has chosen to become a supernumerary judge.

Madam Justice Snowie studied at Nipissing University, as well as at Carleton University, and received her law degree from the University of Windsor in 1982. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1984 and joined the firm of Rijcke, Snowie in Guelph that same year. Madam Justice Snowie has worked as a sole practitioner, mainly in the area of family law.

Before beginning her legal career, Madam Justice Snowie had acquired a solid background in social work through the different positions she held with children’s aid societies in North Bay, Halifax, Ottawa and Guelph.

In recent years, she has been involved with several community groups, such as the Stonehenge Therapeutic Drug Rehabilitation Centre, the Romanian Orphan Relief Association, the Citizens Concerned with Crimes Against Children, the Wellington Hospice Care Centre and the Rotary Club of Guelph.

These appointments are effective immediately.

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Ref. :  Johanne Senécal
  Minister’s Office
  (613) 992-4621