Alberta Judicial Appointments Announced

OTTAWA, February 8, 2013 – The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments:

The Honourable Barbara L. Veldhuis, a judge of Her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in Calgary, is appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal of Alberta to replace Mr. Justice K.G. Ritter (Edmonton) who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of May 1, 2011.

Madam Justice Veldhuis received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta and was admitted to the Bar of Alberta in 1987.

Madam Justice Veldhuis was appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in 2011 and to the provincial court in 2007. Prior to these appointments, she worked with the Department of Justice Canada from 1998 to 2006; additionally, Madam Justice Veldhuis was a Crown prosecutor with Alberta Justice from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1996 to 1998. She was in private practice, focusing on criminal law, from 1988 to 1991 with Logan Watson & Company and from 1993 to 1995 with Clarkson Mochan Veldhuis.

Madam Justice Veldhuis was the president of the Grande Prairie Bar Association from 1992 to 1996 and served as vice-chairman of the Grande Prairie Regional College Foundation from 1993 to 1996.

The Honourable Thomas W. Wakeling, a lawyer with Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in Edmonton, is appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta to replace Mr. Justice S. Sanderman (Edmonton), who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of June 30, 2012.

Mr. Justice Wakeling received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan in 1971 and a Bachelor of Laws from Queen's University in 1974. He received a Master of Laws from the University of Illinois in 1982. He was admitted to the Bar of Saskatchewan in 1980, the Bar of Alberta in 1982 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2001.

Mr. Justice Wakeling has been a partner with Fraser Milner Casgrain since 1983. Additionally, he was a faculty member of the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan, for a period of five years, beginning in 1974. His main practice areas were constitutional law, labour law and arbitration.

Mr. Justice Wakeling was chairman of the Public Service Employee Relations Board of Alberta from 1989 to 1993. He has been a chartered arbitrator with the Arbitrator's Institute of Canada since 1988. He has been the president of the Edmonton Junior Golf Association since 2003 and is an honourary solicitor for the United Way of Alberta, Capital Region.

The Honourable Kim D. Nixon, a sole practitioner in Calgary, is appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta to replace Mr. Justice A.G. Park (Calgary) who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of June 30, 2012.

Madam Justice Nixon received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Victoria in 1979 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta in 1983. She was admitted to the Bar of Alberta in 1984.

Madam Justice Nixon has been a sole practitioner since 2012. Prior to that, she was an associate with Bennett Jones LLP from 1984 to 1992 and a partner in the Litigation Department from 1992 to 2010. Her main areas of practice were civil litigation (with an emphasis on medical malpractice defence), professional discipline, administrative law, employment law, health law, human rights and workplace harassment.

Madam Justice Nixon was a member of the Canadian Bar Association. She was a member of the Calgary Medical Legal Society from 1992 to 2010 and the Women's Executive Network from 2007 to 2009.

The Honourable Charlene S. Anderson, a lawyer with Ross Smith Asset Management Inc. in Calgary, is appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Calgary) to replace Madam Justice B.L. Veldhuis who was appointed to the Court of Appeal on February 8, 2013.

Madam Justice Anderson received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta in 1986 and a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1989. She was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1991 and the Bar of Alberta in 1996.

Madam Justice Anderson had been Chief Legal and Operating Officer with Ross Smith Asset Management Inc. since 2012. Prior to that, she was general counsel for the University of Calgary from 2004 to 2012, senior enforcement counsel with the Alberta Securities Commission from 1999 to 2004 and a lawyer with Philips & Company from 1997 to 1999. Her main practice areas were administrative law, human rights, employment law, labour law, intellectual property, corporate law and construction law.

Madam Justice Anderson was a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Association of General Counsel of Alberta, the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, the Canadian Association of University Solicitors and the National Association of Colleges and University Attorneys.

The Honourable Russell S. Brown, an associate counsel with Miller Thomson LLP and associate professor of law at the University of Alberta, is appointed a judge of Her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta to replace Mr. Justice K. Yamauchi (Edmonton), who was transferred to Calgary.

Mr. Justice Brown received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia in 1987 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Victoria in 1994. He received a Master of Laws in 2003 and a Doctor of Juridical Science in 2006, both from the University of Toronto. He was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1995 and to the Bar of Alberta in 2008.

Mr. Justice Brown has been an associate counsel with Miller Thomson LLP in Edmonton since 2008, as well as an associate professor, Faculty of Law, at the University of Alberta, since 2004. In 2011, Mr. Justice Brown was named associate dean of the Faculty of Law. He was an associate with Carfra & Lawton in Victoria, British Columbia from 1996 to 2003 and with Davis & Company in Vancouver from 1995 to 1996. His main areas of practice were commercial law, medical negligence, personal injury, trusts and estates and competition law.

Mr. Justice Brown was a representative on the Credentials and Education Committee of the Law Society of Alberta and a member of the Civil Practice Advisory Committee of the Law Society from 2010 to 2011. He has been a board member of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice and board chairman of the Health Law Institute of the University of Alberta. He has been a presenter at numerous professional associations and is the author of several legal journal articles.

These appointments are effective immediately.

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Ref.:

• Julie Di Mambro
  Press Secretary
  Office of the Minister of Justice
  613-992-4621

• Media Relations
  Department of Justice
  613-957-4207