Dear Colleagues:

It has just recently been announced that the Prime Minister has nominated Ontario Court of Appeal justices Mr. Justice Michael Moldaver and Madam Justice Andromache Karakatsanis to fill the vacancies at the Supreme Court of Canada. The appointments have been somewhat controversial since Justice Moldaver is not bilingiual and Justice Karakatsanis is relatively inexperienced but has close ties to the Conservative party.  More information about the nominations and these controversies can be found here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/pm-taps-ontario-judges-karakatsanis-moldaver-for-supreme-court/article2203240/page1/.  As the article rightly predicts: "In legal circles, there will be considerable shock that a front-runner for the job – Ontario Court of Appeal Judge Robert Sharpe – was not one of the nominees".

Those interested in the life of an appellate court judge will also be interested in the Justice Binnie's 24 page exit interview done with a reporter from the Globe and Mail.  In it, Justice Binnie mentions that one of his favourite cases (and one of my least) was Whiten v Pilot Insurance on punitive damages in private law. Here is the link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/justice-ian-binnies-exit-interview/article2178895/.

Happy Reading,

-- 
Jason Neyers
Associate Professor of Law
Faculty of Law
University of Western Ontario
N6A 3K7
(519) 661-2111 x. 88435