The Honourable Marianne Rivoalen was appointed a judge of the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba (Family Division) in 2005. She became the Court’s Associate Chief Justice (Family Division) in 2015, and was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal in 2018. Prior to her appointment to the Bench, Chief Justice Rivoalen was Senior Counsel and Team Leader with the Department of Justice Canada’s Aboriginal Law Services Group, responsible for its lawyers in Manitoba handling residential school litigation. Before that, she had a broad litigation and advocacy practice in both official languages with two Winnipeg firms. She also served as an arbitrator with the Manitoba Labour Board and as a Deputy Chief Commissioner of Manitoba’s Residential Tenancies Commission.
Chief Justice Rivoalen has devoted considerable volunteer time to her community, particularly with respect to the protection of the French language, equality, and women’s rights. She is a former president of the Association des juristes d’expression française du Manitoba, the Sociéte Franco-Manitobaine (now the Société de la francophonie manitobaine), and Pluri-elles. She was a member of the boards of directors of Réseau action femmes, the Miriam Centre, and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She also served as Vice-President and member of the Board of Governors of the Université de Saint-Boniface. She received the Manitoba Bar Association Equality Award in 2003, the Femme remarquable de l’année 2001 award from the Fédération nationale des femmes canadiennes-françaises, and the Prix Réseau in 2001.
Chief Justice Rivoalen grew up on the family farm in St. Labre, Manitoba. She received a Bachelor of Arts (Latin-Philosophy) with a concentration in mathematics from the St. Boniface College (now l’Université de Saint-Boniface) in 1984 and a Bachelor of Laws from the Université de Moncton Law School in 1988. She was admitted to the Manitoba Bar in 1989.