Sydney native named justice of the federal tax court

A Sydney native has been named a justice of the Tax Court of Canada.

Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, announced the appointment of Justice Ronald V. MacPhee recently.

MacPhee was general counsel with the tax law services division of the Department of Justice Canada in Ottawa before being appointed a judge of the Tax Court of Canada. He replaced Justice Gaston Jorré.

MacPhee was born and raised in Sydney and his parents are Dan and Elizabeth MacPhee.

He earned a business administration degree in 1989 from St. Francis Xavier University and his law degree from the University of New Brunswick in 1994.

After his call to the Ontario bar in 1996, MacPhee ran a busy general practice in Ottawa, both on his own and with a small firm, focusing in the areas of civil and criminal litigation, family law, and wills and estates.

In 2002, MacPhee joined the tax law services division in Ottawa. As general counsel since 2009, he has been lead counsel in complex trial and appellate litigation relating to fiscal matters before the Tax Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

MacPhee and his wife, Suzanne, have three daughters. He is an enthusiastic amateur athlete who enjoys cycling in the summer, downhill skiing in the winter, and playing weekly hockey. He has spent several years as a volunteer basketball coach with a number of organizations in the Ottawa area.

MacPhee was named to the post under the new judicial application process announced on Oct. 20, 2016. The new process is intended to emphasize transparency, merit, and diversity. Significant reforms to the role and structure of the judicial advisory committees, aimed at enhancing the independence and transparency of the process, were announced in 2016 and 16 judicial advisory committees have been reconstituted to date.