Program committees

Co-Chairs

• The Honourable Justice Karen Horsman, Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver, BC)
• The Honourable Justice Christine Pallotta, Federal Court (Ottawa, ON)

Co-Chairs

• Michael Gottheil, Senior Counsel, ARCH Disability Law Center (Ottawa, ON)
• Athanasios Hadjis, Vice-Chair, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (Ottawa, ON)

Members

• Mélanie Chartier, Commissioner, Canada Energy Regulator (Vancouver, BC)
• Amit Chowdhury, Counsel, Veterans Affairs Canada (Calgary, AB)
• Jeff G. Cowan, Counsel, WeirFoulds LLP (Toronto, ON)
• Alexandra Ducharme, Lawyer, REMDUS (Sherbrooke, QC)
• Amélie Lavictoire, Vice Chairperson, Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (Ottawa, ON)
• Louis Legault, Commissioner, Régie de l’énergie du Québec (Montreal, QC)
• M. Kathleen McManus, K.C., PhD, Member, Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board (Halifax, NS)
• Sheila Wildeman, Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law & Associate Director, Dalhousie Health Justice Institute, Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS)

Ex Officio Member

• Christine O’Doherty, Executive Director & Lawyer, CIAJ (Montreal, QC)

Mandate

• Proposes courses for members of federal, provincial and territorial administrative tribunals where needs exist.
• Proposes individualized courses for specialized administrative tribunals.
• Advises on topics of common interest to the administrative tribunals and judicial communities.
• Liaises with the Canadian Council for Administrative Tribunals, the Society of Ontario Arbitrators and Regulators and other related professional institutions, national and international.
• Promotes CIAJ’s administrative tribunal programs throughout the administrative tribunals’ community.
• Recruits members from the administrative tribunals community.
• Develops teaching material to support course content.
• Recommends local expertise in the field of administrative law when required.

Chair

• The Honourable Justice Peter Willcock, Court of Appeal for British Columbia, CIAJ President (Vancouver, BC)

Members

• The Honourable Justice Michelle Christopher, Provincial Court of Alberta (Calgary, AB)
• The Honourable Deputy Chief Justice Joanne Durant, Alberta Court of Justice (Calgary, AB)
• Matthew Hinshaw, Senior Crown Prosecutor, Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (Edmonton, AB)
• Jennifer Llewellyn, Professor of Law, Chair in Restorative Justice, Director of Restorative Research at Innovation and Education Lab, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS)
• The Honourable Justice Anna Loparco, Court of King’s Bench of Alberta (Edmonton, AB)
• Megan Longley, K.C., Executive Director, Dalhousie Legal Aid Service, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS)
• Diana Lowe, K.C., Justice System Consulting, Re-imagining Justice; Co-Lead, RFJS (Calgary, AB)
• Robin Parker, Counsel, Paradigm Law Group (Toronto, ON)
• Megan Stephens, Criminal and Constitutional Lawyer, Megan Stephens Law (Toronto, ON)
• The Honourable Justice Anne Turner, Court of Appeal for Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB)
• Brenda Young, Community Justice Director, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation (Muncey, ON)
• The Honourable Justice Peter Willcock, Court of Appeal for British Columbia, CIAJ President (Vancouver, BC)
• Christine O’Doherty, Lawyer and Executive Director, CIAJ (Montreal, QC)
• Lise Bujold, Assistant Executive Director, CIAJ (Montreal, QC)
• Sara-Ann Savoy, Event Coordinator, CIAJ (Montreal, QC)
• Sarah Rowe, Legal Counsel, CIAJ (St. John’s, NL)

Mandate

• Recruits members for the planning and consultative committee.
• Develops conference title, themes and programs.
• Selects speakers, panellists and resource persons.
• Identifies sources for financing the conference.
• Identifies constituencies to promote the conference to.
• Welcomes and host speakers and dignitaries at the conference.

Chair

• To be confirmed

Members

• Jennifer Cox, K.C., Managing Lawyer, Nova Scotia Legal Aid Sipekne’katik (Indian Brook, NS)
• The Honourable Justice Tracy Engelking, Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) (Ottawa, ON)
• Scott Robertson, Senior Associate, Nahwegahbow Corbiere LLP (Rama, ON)
• Bradford W. Morse, Professor, Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers University (Kamloops, BC)

Ex Officio Members

• The Honourable Justice Peter M. Willcock, British Columbia Court of Appeal; CIAJ President (Vancouver, BC)
• Christine O’Doherty, Executive Director & Lawyer, CIAJ (Montreal, QC)

Mandate

• Advises the Executive Director.
• Meets as required.
• Composed of Board members and other volunteers, particularly those from Indigenous communities.
• Plans programs related to indigenous issues.
• Advises CIAJ on topics and expertise necessary to ensure Indigenous issues are included in other CIAJ programs when relevant.
• The Executive Director is an ex-officio member.

Chair

• Hong Nguyen, Director and General Counsel Transport Canada Regulations Section, Legislative Services Branch, Department of Justice (Ottawa, ON)

Members

• Stephen Bindman, Visiting Professor and Executive in residence, Faculty of Law (Common Law Section), University of Ottawa (Ottawa, ON)
• Megan Longley, K.C., Executive Director, Dalhousie Legal Aid Service, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS)
• Athanasios Hadjis, Vice-Chair, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (Ottawa, ON)
• The Honourable Justice Karan Shaner, Court of Appeal for Alberta (Edmonton, AB)
• Nazrina H. Umarji, B.Ed, J.D., Crown Prosecutor, Alberta Justice (Edmonton, AB) 

Ex Officio Members

• Christine O’Doherty, Executive Director & Lawyer, CIAJ (Montreal, QC)
• Marion Essig, Communication Manager, CIAJ (Montreal, QC)
• Mihail Matache, Membership Services Coordinator, CIAJ (Montreal, QC)

Mandate

• Advises the Executive Director.
• Meets as required.
• Composed of Board members and other volunteers.
• Advises on internal and external communication and membership strategies.
• Promotes CIAJ among the communities it serves.
• Recommends communication and membership plans to the Board.
• The Executive Director is an ex-officio member.

Co-Chairs

• The Honourable Justice Lise G. Favreau, Court of Appeal for Ontario (Toronto, ON)
• The Honourable Justice Mary Gleason, Federal Court of Appeal & Chief Justice of the Court Martial Appeal Court (Ottawa, ON)
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Chair

• The Honourable Justice Peter M.S. Bryson, Nova Scotia Court of Appeal (Halifax, NS)

Co-Chairs

• The Honourable Justice Rita Maxwell, Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) (Toronto, ON)
• The Honourable Justice Palbinder Kaur Shergill, Supreme Court of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC)
• The Honourable Justice Bernard Synnott, Superior Court of Québec (Montreal, QC)

Chair

• The Honourable Justice Breese Davies, Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) (Toronto, ON)

Co-Chairs

• Charlie Feldman, Legislative Counsel, Department of Justice Canada (Ottawa, ON)
• Lerissa Thaver, Legislative Counsel, Ministry of Justice, Government of Alberta (Edmonton, AB)

Members

• Elena Bosi, Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Legislative Services (Branch), Justice & Public Safety, New Brunswick (Fredericton, NB)
• Luc Gagné, Senior Counsel, Specialized Legislative Services Section, Legislative Services Branch, Public Law and Legislative Services Sector, Department of Justice Canada (Ottawa, ON)
• John Mark Keyes, Sessional Professor, Faculty of Law – Common Law Section, University of Ottawa (Ottawa, ON)
• Cassandra Porter, Legislative Counsel, Regulations Section – Legislative Services Branch, Department of Justice Canada (Ottawa, ON)
• Ian Rennie, Legislative Counsel, Legislation Division, Department of Justice, Government of the Northwest Territories (Yellowknife, NT)
• Jean-Félix Robitaille, Legislative Lawyer, Direction des orientations et des affaires législatives, Sous-ministériat des orientations et de l’accès à la justice, ministère de la Justice du Québec (Québec, QC)
• Alexandra Schorah, Senior Legislative Counsel, House of Commons (Ottawa, ON)
• Mark Spakowski, Chief Legislative Counsel, Ministry of the Attorney General, Ontario (Toronto, ON)
• William Stephenson, Legislative Counsel, House of Commons (Ottawa, ON)

Ex Officio Members

• Christine O’Doherty, Executive Director & Lawyer, CIAJ (Montreal, QC)
• Danielle St-Hilaire, Event Planner, CIAJ (Halifax, NS)

Mandate

• Conducts seminars and webinars for members of the legislative drafting community.
• Liaises with the Canadian Association of Parliamentary Counsel, the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel and other related professional institutions, national or international.
• Promotes CIAJ’s legislative drafting programs throughout the legislative drafting community.
• Recruits members from the legislative drafting community.
• Identifies sources for financing the legislative drafting activities.
• Recommends local expertise in the field of legislative drafting when required for related programs.

 

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Call for Expressions of Interest:
The Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (CIAJ) Legislative Drafting Committee

Are you interested in shaping future CIAJ legislative drafting events? The CIAJ Legislative Drafting Committee is recruiting new members!

The Committee brings together a volunteer body of professionals from across Canada within the legislative drafting ecosystem (francophone and anglophone drafters, revisers, translators etc.) at various levels of experience to plan the CIAJ’s biennial legislative drafting conference and additional related programming.

Interested? Find us in person at the CIAJ Legislative Drafting Conference (2026 Edition) in Ottawa, or email a member of the CIAJ nominations subcommittee: Charlie Feldman (charlie.feldman@justice.gc.ca), Lerissa Thaver (Lerissa.Thaver@gov.ab.ca) and Cassandra Porter (Cassandra.Porter@justice.gc.ca). We would be happy to provide more information as well as our Membership and Terms of Reference document.

To apply: Email the nominations subcommittee by September 23rd, 2026, with your CV and a short statement (max 500 words) explaining your interest in joining the Committee and describing any work experience you have related to legislative drafting.

Applicants from diverse backgrounds and traditionally underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. Please feel free to communicate with us in the official language of your choice.

Chair

• To be confirmed

Members

• Brian A. Blumenthal, Lawyer, Mediator, Arbitrator and Workplace Investigator (Toronto, ON)
• Mark Gannage, Deputy Judge, Small Claims Court (Toronto, ON)
• Keiran Gibbs, Director of Policy, Office of the President, Treasury Board of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
• Miray Granovsky, Deputy Judge, Small Claims Court; General Counsel, Atlantic Coated Papers (Whitby, ON)

Co-Chairs

• The Honourable Justice Peter Lauwers, Court of Appeal for Ontario (Toronto, ON)
• The Honourable Justice James W. O’Reilly, Federal Court (retired), Senate Ethics Officer (Ottawa, ON)
• The Honourable Daniel W. Payette, Superior Court of Quebec (Retired) (Montreal, QC)

Co-Chairs

• The Honourable Justice Susanne Boucher, Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Toronto, ON)
• The Honourable Justice P. Colleen Suche, Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB)