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Supreme Court of Canada appointments selection process
To identify a pool of qualified candidates for appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General consulted with the Attorney General of Ontario, senior members of the Canadian judiciary as well as prominent legal organizations. Members of the public were also invited to submit their input with respect to qualified candidates who merit consideration.
The list of qualified candidates was then reviewed by a selection panel composed of five Members of Parliament – including three members from the Government caucus and one member from each of the recognized Opposition caucuses, as selected by their respective leaders.
The Supreme Court of Canada Appointments Selection Panel was responsible for assessing the candidates and providing an unranked list of six qualified candidates to the Prime Minister of Canada and the Minister of Justice for their consideration.
In this case, the list of six candidates, which included the two nominees, was unanimously approved by the committee.
The two selected nominees will appear at a public hearing of an ad hoc parliamentary committee to answer questions of Members of Parliament. This is a process that was first established for the appointment of the Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall E. Rothstein in 2006.
