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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 33 and the one region in Ontario are the only committees that currently have members. The vacancies are a result of the Liberal review of the overall appointment process. The amount of time it is taking has been a source of frustration to courts and legal organizations in a number of different provinces. There were 44 vacancies for federally appointed judges as of Aug. 1, according to the commissioner of judicial affairs web site. Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin even weighed in on the issue in a speech at the annual CBA conference in August. "There is something deeply wrong with the hiring scheme that repeatedly proves itself inca- pable of foreseeing, preparing for and filling vacancies as they arise," the chief justice said in her speech. The number of vacancies in Alberta resulted in the chief justice of its Court of Queen's Bench taking the unusual step of speaking to the media this spring about the issue. Four judges were named to that court in June, but at the same time, two of its existing members were elevated to the Court of Appeal. Jenny McMordie, vice president of the Alberta branch of the CBA, says the complement of trial-level judges allo- cated for the province has not caught up with its population growth. "We are in a deficit position. Our judges are working overtime," says McMordie, a Calgary- based litigator. The workload and delay not only in filling vacancies but in appointing the number of judges that are needed in Alberta may also discourage candidates, she says. "I am sure some people will not apply," says McMordie. Travel, as well as workload, is anoth- er issue for Federal Court of Canada judges, who are required to live in the national capital region yet have sittings in a number of cities across the country. Marina Sedai, an immigration lawyer in Vancouver, says it is time for the federal government to move more quickly to fill vacancies. "We do not want to see our judges overworked and overwhelmed," says Sedai. She agrees that there is a need for more diversity on the bench, but in the short term she believes that vacancies should not go unfilled. The pressure to fill vacancies and at the same time make substantive changes to improve the appointment process as a whole are just some of the challenges facing the government of Justin Trudeau. Ferris, who chaired a Law Society of B.C. committee that recently submitted a report to the federal government on how to improve the way judges are appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, says changes to the judicial appointment pro- cess cannot be cosmetic. "The proof comes from how it is implemented. It is important to put in a process that is fol- lowed and about getting the best people to be judges, not just about how do I get through this process," says Ferris. While he is critical about the exist- ing framework for federally appointed judges, Agarwal is willing to have some patience in terms of when the reforms will be announced and then put into place. "I want the process that comes out of this to be good and stand the test of time," he says. Because business issues are legal issues. So if you want to get ahead in business, get the degree that gets you there faster. ONE YEAR – PART - TIME – NO THESIS FOR L AWYERS AND NON - LAWYERS law.utoronto.ca/ExecutiveLLM GPLLM Global Professional Master of Laws [Get a Master of Laws] Untitled-1 1 2015-02-25 8:38 AM

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