Roberge sits in Montréal while Gomery and Sigurdson are based in Vancouver
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani has announced the appointments of Jean-François Roberge, Geoffrey B. Gomery, and Elin Sigurdson to new judicial roles.
Roberge joins the Superior Court of Quebec as a judge for the district of Montréal. Gomery becomes a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia in Vancouver, while Sigurdson commences as a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Roberge takes over for Justice D.W. Payette (Laval), whose resignation came into effect on April 2. Roberge had been a judge of the Court of Québec in Montréal since 2020 and was also part of the Administrative and Appeal Division.
According to the Department of Justice Canada, Roberge was an advisory counsel in the administration of justice and judicial reform for the World Bank. He has held a teaching post at the Université de Sherbrooke and was a visiting professor at Paris-Panthéon-Assas University.
He is part of the settlement conference training team at the NJI in Canada and a member of the National School for the Judiciary in France. He has taken part in training judges for more than two decades.
Roberge has hosted articling students and joined juries as a participant for the Fondation du Barreau du Québec, university competitions, and thesis defences. He has written four books on access to justice and civil procedure; he has also served as a contributor to collective works. In addition to a Doctor of Laws degree, he holds a master’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in dispute prevention and resolution.
The Department of Justice Canada confirmed that on November 8, Gomery officially took the place of Justice P. Voith, who transitioned to a role as supernumerary judge on September 1. Gomery first joined the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 2018; that same year, he became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
He concentrates on commercial and administrative litigation, including class actions, pension litigation, commercial arbitration, professional discipline, shareholder disputes and securities matters. Before becoming a judge, he practiced with Davis & Company and Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson. In 2010, he was named King’s Counsel.
Sigurdson took on Gomery’s previous position in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Prior to this appointment, she was an associate at Mandell Pinder LLP.
She focuses on litigation of Aboriginal, constitutional, environmental and administrative law issues; she has also tackled Law Society investigations, First Nations governance issues, and a complex coroner’s inquiry. She has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada.
In addition to her stint with Mandell Pinder LLP, Sigurdson previously held roles at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, Arvay Finlay, and JFK Law LLP.