OTTAWA,
ON, July 24, 2024 /CNW/ - The
Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney
General of Canada, today announced
the following appointment under the judicial application process
established in 2016. This process emphasizes transparency, merit,
and the diversity of the Canadian population, and will continue to
ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of
excellence and integrity.
Karin L.E. Taylor,
Director of Legal Division at the Government of Northwest Territories in Yellowknife, is appointed a Judge of the
Supreme Court of the Northwest
Territories in Yellowknife.
Justice Taylor replaces Justice
K. Shaner, who was elevated to the
Court of Appeal of Alberta on
June 20, 2024.
Quote
"I wish Justice Taylor every
success as she takes on her new role. I am confident she will serve
the public well as a member of the Supreme Court of the
Northwest Territories."
—The Hon. Arif Virani, Minister of
Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Biography
Justice Karin L.E.
Taylor earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the
University of Winnipeg in 2002 and an
LL.B. from the University of New
Brunswick in 2005. She was called to the bar in Nova Scotia in 2006.
Justice Taylor practiced law in
the private sector before moving north to pursue an opportunity at
Justice Canada's Northern Regional
Office. She went on to practice at both the Northwest Territories
Legal Aid Commission as a family lawyer and the Government of
Northwest Territories as
litigation counsel. She was appointed as Director of Legal Division
for the Government of Northwest
Territories in 2020. She enjoyed a varied legal practice
with a focus on civil litigation and public sector law. She was
lead counsel in a number of high-profile matters, including during
the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and
Girls and COVID-19 response.
Justice Taylor is the former
member of the Canadian Bar Association's National Board of
Directors and former President of the Northwest Territories Branch. She sat on the
Executive of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories from 2018-2021. Most
recently, she was Chair of the Territorial Access to Justice
Committee. She has been involved as a volunteer for several
non-profit organizations including Vice President of both the Young
Women's Christian Association (YWCA) NWT and the Yellowknife
Community Foundation. She is also an alumnus of the Governor
General's Canadian Leadership Conference. She is the recipient of
the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for contributions
to her community.
Justice Taylor and her husband
Joel are most often found at the cabin, chauffeuring their children
around Yellowknife, and enjoying
frozen dog walks.
Quick Facts
- The Government of Canada has
appointed more than 760 judges since November 2015. This includes 137 appointments
since the Honourable Arif Virani became Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of Canada on
July 26, 2023, a pace of
appointments that has no precedent in Canadian History. These
exceptional jurists represent the diversity that strengthens
Canada. Of these judges, more than
half are women, and appointments reflect an increased
representation of racialized persons, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQI+, and
those who self-identify as having a disability.
- To support the needs of the courts and improve access to
justice for all Canadians, the Government of Canada is committed to increasing the capacity
of superior courts. Budget 2022 provides for 22 new judicial
positions, along with two associate judges at the Tax Court of
Canada. Along with the 13
positions created under Budget 2021, this makes a total of 37 newly
created superior court positions. Since Budget 2017, the government
has funded 116 new judicial positions.
- Changes to the Questionnaire for Federal Judicial Appointments
were announced in September 2022. The
questionnaire continues to provide for a robust and thorough
assessment of candidates but has been streamlined and updated to
incorporate, among other things, more respectful and inclusive
language for individuals to self-identify diversity
characteristics.
- Federal judicial appointments are made by the Governor General,
acting on the advice of the federal Cabinet and recommendations
from the Minister of Justice.
- The Judicial Advisory Committees across Canada play a key role in evaluating judicial
applications. There are 17 Judicial Advisory Committees, with each
province and territory represented.
- Significant reforms to the role and structure of the Judicial
Advisory Committees, aimed at enhancing the independence and
transparency of the process, were announced on October 20, 2016.
- The Government of Canada is
committed to promoting a justice system in which sexual assault
matters are decided fairly, without the influence of myths and
stereotypes, and in which survivors are treated with dignity and
compassion. Changes to the Judges Act and Criminal
Code that came into force on May 6,
2021, mean that in order to be eligible for appointment to a
provincial superior court, candidates must agree to participate in
continuing education on matters related to sexual assault law and
social context, which includes systemic racism and systemic
discrimination. The new legislation enhances the transparency of
decisions by amending the Criminal Code to require that
judges provide written reasons, or enter them into the record, when
deciding sexual assault matters.
SOURCE Department of Justice
Canada