Government of Canada announces judicial appointments in the province of Alberta

November 5, 2018 - Ottawa, Ontario - Department of Justice Canada  

The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments under the new judicial application process introduced on October 20, 2016. The new process emphasizes transparency, merit, and diversity, and will continue to ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of excellence and integrity.

The Honourable Elizabeth A. Hughes, a judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, is appointed a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of Alberta in Calgary. She replaces Justice M.S. Paperny, who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective June 30, 2017.

The Honourable Dawn Pentelechuk, a judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, is appointed a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of Alberta in Edmonton. She replaces Justice B. L. Veldhuis who has transferred to Calgary.

Biographies

Justice Elizabeth Hughes obtained her B.A. and LL.B. in 1981 from the University of Saskatchewan and was called to the Bar of British Columbia in 1982 and the Bar of Alberta in 1987. She was the first female Chief Crown Prosecutor in Calgary at the time of her appointment to the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta in 2001.

As a lawyer, Justice Hughes volunteered extensively in the areas of domestic violence and child abuse. She was a member of the National Executive of the Criminal Section of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), as well as an executive member of the Calgary Bar Association. In 1999, she joined the faculty of the National Criminal Law Program, where she was a faculty member until 2010.

Since being appointed to the Court of Queen’s Bench, Justice Hughes has been involved in a variety of policy and governance committees of the Court, including as a past chair of the Criminal Steering Committee. She is currently the co-chair of both the Education Committee and the Calgary Student and Legal Counsel Committee, and a member of the Strategic Planning Committee.

Justice Hughes continues to be actively involved in judicial education with the National Judicial Institute (NJI) and the Canadian Judicial Council’s Specimen Jury Instruction Committee. Her work with the NJI includes giving presentations at, and organizing, judicial education seminars. She also teaches with the New Judges Program.

In addition, she has served on the executives of the Judges Counselling Program and the CBA’s Judges’ Forum.

Justice Hughes is a Deputy Judge in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and has conducted jury trials in all three jurisdictions.

Justice Dawn Pentelechuk received her law degree from the University of Alberta in 1986, at the age of 21. Following her admission to the Alberta Bar in 1987, she spent her entire legal career as a civil litigator in Edmonton, practising at Duncan Craig LLP, Schlosser Nikel Pentelechuk Wood, and Cleall Pahl (now McAllister LLP). Her practice included commercial, insurance, personal injury and employment law. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2007.

In November 2013, Justice Pentelechuk was appointed to the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench. During her five years on the Court, she heard a full variety of civil, commercial, criminal, and family matters. She took great satisfaction in helping parties, particularly in family matters, resolve their disputes through the Court’s various resolution initiatives.

Motivated by her keen interest in the mentoring and education of law students and lawyers, Justice Pentelechuk served as a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta law school, the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education, the Canadian Bar Association, and the Legal Education Society of Alberta. As the mother of five children, Justice Pentelechuk is well versed in the challenges of balancing career and family and often speaks on issues relating to women in the profession.

Born in Edmonton, Justice Pentelechuk was raised in a farming family that valued hard work, stewardship, and independent thinking. She is married to Mark Asbell, a labour arbitrator and mediator.