At first glance, in New Brunswick, there is obviously no representation-related requirement for the choice and appointment of judges to the Court of Appeal. That said, the choice or selection of a judge is a sensitive question, because we must ensure socio-cultural and socio-linguistic representation. It is true that, up until recently, there were two female judges on the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick. We also had the same number of judges whose mother tongue was French as whose mother tongue was English.
The recent appointments have changed the membership of the Court of Appeal in this respect. The Law Society of New Brunswick is of course concerned: it must ensure that socio-cultural and socio-linguistic representation is maintained, in my opinion, because it is a source of intellectual wealth leading to better legal debate. Therefore, it is a worrisome trend we should clearly keep an eye on.
I believe that the Law Society of New Brunswick will always maintain this position: diverse representation is beneficial to a court, specifically to the Court of Appeal.