Appointments span family, criminal and prosecution experience across the three provinces
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser has announced three judicial appointments to courts in Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec.
Hafeez A. Khan, a sole practitioner in Winnipeg, has been appointed to the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba (Family Division) in Winnipeg. Shauna L. MacDonald, K.C., senior counsel at Justice Canada – Canada Revenue Agency Legal Services Unit in Halifax, has been appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in Yarmouth. Alexandre Dalmau, a judge of the Court of Quebec in Montreal, has been appointed to the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montreal.
Justice Hafeez A. Khan
Khan replaces Justice R.B. Doyle, who retired effective August 13, 2026. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Khan earned a Bachelor of Science in Ecology with first-class honours from the University of Manitoba before obtaining degrees in Common and Civil Law from McGill University. He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 2003 and the New York Bar in 2004.
Khan has maintained a varied practice, primarily focused on child protection. He was involved in implementing and applying Manitoba’s first and currently only Indigenous child and family services law. He has appeared at all court levels in Manitoba, as well as before the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada.
He is a former chair of the Mental Health Review Board and served as counsel in the Phoenix Sinclair Inquiry. Khan has also lectured for the Law Society and the Canadian Bar Association and has regularly spoken at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law.
Justice Shauna L. MacDonald
In Nova Scotia, MacDonald replaces Justice P.L. Muise, who resigned effective April 21, 2026. MacDonald earned a Bachelor of Arts with honours in French from Dalhousie University in 1991 and a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie Law School in 1994. She was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1995.
MacDonald spent most of her legal career as Crown counsel with the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service, prosecuting serious criminal offences in the province’s Supreme and Provincial courts. She later became senior counsel with the Canada Revenue Agency Legal Services Unit at Justice Canada.
She was appointed King’s Counsel in 2021 and received the RCMP Commissioner’s Commendation for Outstanding Service to public safety in 2023. MacDonald also co-taught Criminal Trial Practice at the Schulich School of Law and mentored students and lawyers in criminal law.
Justice Alexandre Dalmau
Dalmau replaces Justice Audrey Boctor, who was elevated to the Court of Appeal of Quebec effective September 14, 2026. He earned a Bachelor of Laws from Université du Québec à Montréal and was called to the Barreau du Québec in 1996.
After briefly practising privately, Dalmau became a prosecutor in 1997. He joined the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in 2000, working primarily on organized crime and international drug trafficking cases.
Dalmau returned to Quebec’s prosecution service in 2012, primarily handling homicide cases, and became deputy director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions in 2015. The Quebec government appointed him to the Court of Québec’s Criminal and Penal Division in Montréal in 2017.
He has also taught trial advocacy techniques as an adjunct professor at the University of Montréal and taught at prosecutor training schools operated by provincial and federal prosecution services.
