Commissioners

Sarah Elgazzar, Commissioner and Vice-President

Ms Sarah Elgazzar is a policy and communications professional, as well as an experienced civic organizer and trainer and is currently a senior affiliate advisor at Research for Impact in Singapore. Ms Elgazzar obtained her Masters in Public Policy (2017) from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, from which she graduated as Class Valedictorian with a special focus on impacts of trade liberalization on employment and inequality in Asia. Previously, Ms Elgazzar was a lecturer at the Cambridge Muslim College, Cambridge, United Kingdom, where she developed and delivered courses in areas such as Community Development and Effective Communications. She was also previously National Spokesperson and Regional Communications Director for The National Council of Canadian Muslims, in Montreal, where she led public communications campaigns as well as advised local and national institutions. Ms Elgazzar graduated from McGill University, Montreal, with a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Psychology and Middle Eastern Studies. She received the Scarlet Key Award for excellence in leadership and extracurricular contributions, including co-founding the first Muslim women’s centre in Montreal.

Aidan Johnson, Commissioner

Aidan Johnson is a staff lawyer at Niagara Community Legal Clinic, where they also serve as executive director. Mx Johnson provides representation at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. NCLC is a not-for-profit agency funded by Legal Aid Ontario. The clinic provides access to justice for poverty-affected people in the Region of Niagara.

Previously, Mx Johnson was a criminal defence staff lawyer for Legal Aid Ontario and a city councillor in Hamilton. They served in a quasi-judicial capacity as chair of the City of Hamilton Planning and Economic Development Committee, which adjudicates appealable land use and zoning decisions.

They hold a Master’s degree from the University of Chicago and were a Fulbright scholar.

Kevin O’Shea, Commissioner

Kevin O’Shea is the Executive Director of the Public Legal Information Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (PLIAN), a role he has been in since 2014, where he leads efforts to provide legal education and information services to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador with the goal of increasing access to justice.

Originally from St. John’s, NL, Kevin completed his law degree at the University of Ottawa in 2009 and his Master of Laws at the University of Turin in 2013, with a focus on International Crime and Justice. He was called to the bar as a Member of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011 after articling with the Crown Attorney’s Office in St. John’s.

Kevin also has prior experience working in the fields of education and human rights advocacy in the United States, Cambodia, and Tanzania.

Kevin currently serves as the Chair of the Access to Justice Steering Committee for Newfoundland and Labrador. He also previously served as President of the Public Legal Education Association of Canada and as Chair of the Alzheimer Society of Canada and the Alzheimer Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Renée Cochard, Commissioner

Renée Cochard is a supernumerary judge of the Alberta Court of Justice. She was appointed a Justice in the Edmonton Criminal Division in October 2015. During her time as a sitting Justice she assisted in the development and opening both the Edmonton Mental Health Court and the Edmonton Indigenous Court. Prior to her appointment, she practiced family law for 36 years. She is a trained mediator and arbitrator. She obtained her LLB from the University of Alberta in 1978. She returned to university to obtain her LLM from Osgoode Hall in 2003 and at the time of her appointment to the bench she was a PhD candidate at UBC law.

Throughout her career Renée has been a teacher, beginning with her work as advising lawyer to Student Legal Services, to teaching the Bar Admission course to articling students to a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta and UBC. She has taught Family Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Women Law and Social Change, and Mental Health and the Law. In 2025 she will be teaching Sentencing at the University of Victoria.

Renée has been very involved with community activities particularly with the Canadian Mental Health Association and LEAF. After her appointment, she volunteered with 2 housing builds for Habitat for Humanity Legal Builds in Edmonton which were to honour 2 of Edmonton’s top legal minds. She has and continues to be very involved with the International Association of Women Judges, in particular with 2 projects, the Retention of Women in the legal Profession and brining Afghan women Judges to Canada. 

She resides in Victoria, BC, with her spouse Tony and her puppy Never.