Feds name 24 new judges

OTTAWA — Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has named 24 new judges and unveiled changes to the way jurists in this country are appointed. The appointments announced today include seven new justices in Alberta, where Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Neil Wittman recently expressed concerns that vacancies were causing trial delays. Wilson-Raybould says the appointments will go towards addressing the “urgent needs” that provincial chief justices have described, but also says there are “many factors” that lead to delays in the justice system. The appointments also include 14 women and two judges who identify as Aboriginal Peoples. The Liberal government has been under increasing pressure — including from Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin this summer — to fill empty seats on federal benches, a backlog that had climbed to 61 vacancies. The government says the new appointments process, separate from the one designed for the Supreme Court, is meant to increase “openness, transparency, accountability and diversity” among judges across Canada.