Kim Campbell (seen in 2015) will head a non-partisan seven-member panel that will play a key role in a new process for appointing Supreme Court of Canada justices. We see Campbell from the neck up as she speaks to asmall microphone at the right of photo. She has long, blond hair in the style of pop singer from the 1960s or 70s.

Kim Campbell (seen in 2015) will head a non-partisan seven-member panel that will play a key role in a new process for appointing Supreme Court of Canada justices.
Photo Credit: CP Photo / Jonathan Hayward

Campbell heads new Supreme Court panel

Former prime minister Kim Campbell will chair a seven-member board that will serve as a key part in a new process for recommending justices to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who says the new process will add transparency to the selection of justices, made the announcement on Tuesday.

He said applications will now be open to any qualified Canadian lawyer who is functionally bilingual and “representative of the diversity of our great country.”

Under the new plan, the new, non-partisan board headed by Campbell will review applicants and submit a non-binding short list of three to five individuals. .

Interested parties will then review the short list.

They include the chief justice of Canada, provincial and territorial attorneys general, relevant cabinet ministers, opposition justice critics and some House of Commons committees.

Trudeau says Justice Minister Judy Wilson-Raybould and Campbell will appear before Parliament to discuss the selection process.

A number of MPs and senators from different parties have then have the opportunity to question the eventual nominee before he or she is officially appointed.

Four of the seven-member board to be chaired by Campbell will be designated by the Canadian Judicial Council, the Canadian Bar Association, the Federation of Law Societies and the Council of Canadian Law Deans.

Campbell, a Progressive-Conservative, served as prime minister from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993.

She was the first–and to date–the only female prime minister of Canada.

With CP and CBC files.

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