December 12, 2002
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien today announced that Her Excellency the Governor General has approved his recommendation that the Honourable Heather J. Smith be appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario and that the Honourable J. Douglas Cunningham be appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario.

With this appointment, Chief Justice Smith becomes the first woman to be appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario. Previously she has served as Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice from 1996-2002. She received a Bachelor of Laws from Queen’s University in 1971, and was admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1973. Following her call to the Bar, she became a Crown Prosecutor with the Department of Justice (Canada) in Toronto. At the time of her appointment to the County & District Court (Brampton) in 1983, she held the position of Senior Counsel. With the amalgamation of the courts in 1990, Chief Justice Smith became a member of the Ontario Court of Justice - General Division (as it was then known) and in 1996, was appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice.

Prior to his appointment, Associate Chief Justice Cunningham had been serving as Regional Senior Judge for the East Region. He received a Bachelor of Laws from Queen’s University in 1967 and was admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1969. Before being appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice - General Division (as it was then known) in 1991, Associate Chief Justice Cunningham was a partner with the Kingston firm of Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham in Kingston, Ontario.

These appointments are effective immediately.

- 30 -

PMO Press Office: (613) 957-5555