New justice minister appoints more than a dozen judges in effort to address vacancies

Justice Minister Arif Virani announced the appointment of more than a dozen judges Monday to fill some of the many vacancies in Canada's judicial system.

Fourteen provincial and territorial judges have been appointed: five in Manitoba (four of which are promotions), four in Ontario and one each in Saskatchewan, B.C., Alberta, Nunavut, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Virani also appointed one Federal Court judge.

For months, Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner has been urging the government to speed up the appointment process.

Wagner wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in May warning that a shortage of judges in the federal court system is putting criminal trials at risk.

"The current situation is untenable and I am worried that it will create a crisis in our justice system, which is already facing multiple challenges. Access to justice and the health of our democratic institutions are at risk," Wagner wrote.

The Supreme Court's 2016 R. v. Jordan decision dictated that trials should finish either 18 or 30 months after a person is charged, depending on the type of trial.

The court ruled that unreasonable delays must lead to proceedings being stayed, which effectively means a trial does not go forward.

Wagner said some accused are being allowed to walk away because a shortage of judges means cases aren't being heard in a timely manner.

Virani promised to speed up judicial appointments when he took on the justice portfolio in July's cabinet shuffle.

"We need to be doing things, not compromising on quality, but we need to be doing things expeditiously," he told the Canadian Press at the time.

Virani said one of the first briefings he received in his new job was on judicial vacancies. One of the issues the government is dealing with is a shortage of applicants, he said.

"That's a bit frustrating when we want to appoint judges [who are] also reflective of the diversity of Canada, which is important to me and important to the prime minister," he said.

The federal government appoints judges to the federal courts, the superior courts of the provinces and territories and the Supreme Court of Canada.

A spokesperson for Virani's office said that as of Sept. 1, there will be 77 vacancies out of roughly 1,200 federally appointed judicial spots. The spokesperson said that vacancies remain elevated due to a large number of retirements.

"Minister Virani will continue to make high quality diverse appointments and the number of vacancies will decline," the spokesperson said in a media statement. They added Virani has now appointed 18 judges since he was sworn in as justice minister.