Wednesday, December 15, 2021, 10:00 a.m.
Video Conference, Supreme Court of Canada
Present
- David Power (Chair)
- Barbara Kincaid
- Chantal Carbonneau
- Renée Thériault
- Renée Maria Tremblay
- Emily Moreau (Secretary)
- Sylvie Labbé
- François Lacasse
- Marie-France Major
- Christopher Rupar
- Corey Villeneuve
- Marion Sandilands
- Geoffrey Langen
- Margaret Truesdale
- Michael Sobkin
- Moira Dillon
- Gib van Ert
- Jeff Beedell
- Nadia Effendi
- Sophie Arsenault
- Gordon Greenwood
1. Agenda
The agenda was approved.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the meeting of October 20, 2021
The minutes were approved.
3. Planning for Hearings, Winter 2022
The Supreme Court building continues to be closed to the public. Courtroom capacity is currently limited to 30 people, and protective measures (the judges sit on two benches, Plexiglas divisions, additional ventilation, etc.) are in place. With capacity at 30 people, the law clerks were able to be present in the Courtroom for the Fall hearings, which is an improvement on their experience.
Hearings in the Winter 2022 session will continue to be hybrid, with the judges sitting in the Courtroom and counsel appearing via Zoom.
We are hoping to have movement on reopening the building sometime in the spring. We anticipate a graduated return to normal (e.g., with the principal parties appearing in person and interveners appearing via Zoom), but nothing has been determined as of yet due to the challenges of planning in a pandemic.
The hybrid hearings are working well and public access to hearings is maintained via live webcast of the hearings on the Court’s website. The Court’s capacity to handle the Zoom hearings (from a technological standpoint) has improved as adjustments were made over the summer, and the limit on the number of counsel appearing before the Court was lifted for the Fall session. However, the Registrar retains the discretion to manage the hearings and to limit the number of counsel, if required.
The Court will be hearing 24 appeals in the upcoming Winter session. The Spring session is light at the moment, but planning is underway. Agents or their clients may be receiving calls from Registry to adjust deadlines as we plan for the Spring session.
4. Varia
In response to a question regarding the timing of the Court’s move to the West Memorial Building, Barbara Kincaid indicated that the move is likely to take place sometime in 2024.
Chantal Carbonneau announced that David Power will be retiring on December 30, 2021. Ms. Carbonneau said that Mr. Power had been a mentor to her since her arrival at the Court, and she reflected on their similar career paths. She underscored how much she has enjoyed working with Mr. Power and thanked him for his work, wishing him a very happy retirement.
Mr. Power responded by saying that he is leaving the Court in good hands, and he expressed how it was a pleasure working with Ms. Carbonneau, Ms. Kincaid and all of the Court’s staff, as well as with the members of COAPP.
Christopher Rupar took a moment to look back on his longstanding professional relationship with Mr. Power, citing Mr. Power’s fascinating career which has run the gamut from private to public litigation. Mr. Rupar commended Mr. Power for his pragmatic and open-to-ideas approach in his work at the Court, particularly in the last two years, and thanked him on behalf of the Ottawa agents for his work in modernizing and streamlining the processes of the Court. Mr. Rupar expressed warm wishes to Mr. Power for a happy retirement.
The other members joined in congratulating Mr. Power and wishing him the best in his retirement.
5. Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 12:30 p.m.