Trudeau appoints new chief justice for New Brunswick

The Prime Minister’s Office says Judge J.C. Marc Richard of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal will be the province’s new chief justice. (Photo by Joe Gratz/Flickr, Public Domain)

OTTAWA — The Prime Minister’s Office says Judge J.C. Marc Richard of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal will be the province’s new chief justice.

Richard replaces J. Ernest Drapeau.

The new chief judge was first named to the Court of Appeal in 2003 after a career as both a Crown prosecutor and a private litigator.

The Moncton-born chief justice is an Acadian and fluently bilingual, and is a former president of the Law Society of New Brunswick.

He was educated at the University of Moncton and the London School of Economics.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Richard leads by example.

“He is truly one of Canada’s preeminent jurists and has been widely recognized throughout his 15-year judicial career for his ability to apply the law in a way that is both principled and thoughtful,” the prime minister said in a statement.