Until 1999 the Minister's statutory power to appoint an Advisory Committee had not been exercised. In 1983, the Federal Court Reports section of the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs received just 547 reasons for judgment for the Editor's consideration. In 1999, some 2,011 judgments were read and considered by the Editor for possible full-text reporting or digesting. The Advisory Committee serves three important purposes: (1) contributes expertise to the selection process in respect of specialized areas of law commonly litigated in the Federal Court of Appeal and in the Federal Court; (2) introduces a greater geographical representation to case selection in that members of the Committee practice at Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal; and (3) relieves the Editor of the heavy burden of reading more than 2,000 judgments per year. Brief biographical sketches of the Committee members are provided below.

Martin William Mason | Top

A partner in the law firm Gowling, Strathy & Henderson, which has offices at Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, Vancouver and Moscow, Mr. Mason holds the following university degrees: B.A. (Honours in Politics), University of Exeter; M.A. (Political Science), McMaster; LL.B., University of Ottawa, where he was winner of the Ainslie Prize awarded for the highest overall standing. At Gowlings, Mr. Mason specializes in Constitutional and Administrative law. He is head of the Advocacy Department at his firm's Ottawa office and a lecturer in Constitutional Law at the University of Ottawa.

Douglas H. Mathew | Top

Mr. Mathew is a member of the British Columbia and Ontario bars as well as being a Chartered Accountant. He was graduated Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta; his LL.B. was earned at the University of Toronto. Currently the Managing Partner of Thorsteinssons, Tax Lawyers at Vancouver, Douglas Mathew was previously an Associate at McCarthy Tétrault's Vancouver office, Manager, Financial Reporting of the Nova Corporation in Calgary and a C.A. with Woods & Company and Ernst & Ernst at Edmonton.

A. David Morrow | Top

David Morrow has been a partner at Smart & Biggar since 1979 and Chair of the firm since 2000. Smart & Biggar is Canada's largest firm devoted exclusively to intellectual property law. David Morrow previously practised with Herridge, Tolmie and Gowling & Henderson. A Physics major, he received his B.Sc. degree from Carleton University in 1963 and obtained a LL.B. degree from the University of Ottawa three years later. He is registered as a Patent and Trade-mark Agent in both Canada and the United States. He is certifed by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in Intellectual Property (Patent, Trade-mark and Copyright) Law. David Morrow is a member of numerous professional organizations and has a lengthy list of published writings. He has appeared as counsel at all levels of the Federal and Ontario Courts and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Suzanne Thibaudeau, Q.C. | Top

A St-Georges de Beauce, Quebec native, Me. Thibaudeau holds a B.A. from College Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montréal and a B.C.L. from McGill. Her law firm, Heenan Blaikie, with offices at Montréal, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, Toronto, Vancouver as well as an affiliated office at Beverly Hills, Ca., carries on a general practice and such specialties as: international motion picture co-productions, broadcasting, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and foreign investment. With Heenan Blaikie since 1974, she is a labour law specialist and has appeared frequently before the CLRB, CHRC and the Federal Court. She has been, since 1993, a member of the advisory committee of the editorial board of the Canadian Labour & Employment Law Journal and has held various executive positions in the Canadian Bar Association at both the provincial and national levels.

Lorne Waldman | Top

A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, Lorne Waldman received his LL.M from the University of Toronto. His thesis was on "International Human Rights Law and Its Effects on a State's Right to Deport Non-citizens". Mr. Waldman has practised exclusively immigration and refugee law since his call in 1979 and appears before the C.R.D.D.,the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada. Lorne Waldman has appeared before the Senate and the House of Commons as a witness on immigration issues and is a frequent speaker at C.B.A. and L.S.U.C. seminars. He is the author and editor of Butterworths' two-volume loose-leaf service Immigration Law and Practice and of Canada Immigration and Refugee Practice, published in 2003 also by Butterworths. Lorne Waldman practises law in Toronto with Jackman, Waldman & Associates.