Government of Canada announces judicial appointments in the province of Québec

March 8, 2019 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Justice Canada  

The Honourable David Lametti, 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 Michel Beaupré, a puisne judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the District of Québec, is appointed a puisne judge of the Court of Appeal of Quebec. He replaces Justice Gagnon, who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective July 24, 2018.

Damien St-Onge, a founding partner at St-Onge & Assels, is appointed as a puisne judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the District of Québec. This appointment fills the vacancy left by Justice Beaupré, who is elevated to the Court of Appeal.

Martin F. Sheehan, a lawyer at Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montréal.  He replaces Justice Matteau (Drummond), who resigned effective November 23, 2018.

Janick Perreault, a sole practitioner, is appointed as a puisne Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montréal.

Dominique Poulin, a partner at Robinson, Sheppard, Shapiro LLP, is appointed as a Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montréal. She replaces Justice Lalonde (Laval), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective November 5, 2018.

Christian Immer, a partner at Sheahan et associés LLP, is appointed as a puisne Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montréal. He replaces Justice Sansfaçon (Montréal), who was elevated to the Court of Appeal on January 29, 2019.

Biographies

Justice Beaupré was born in Québec.He completed his Bachelor of Laws degree at Université de Sherbrooke in 1985, where he also attained a Master in Health Law degree. Justice Beaupré also earned a Master of Comparative Law degree from the University of Iowa and a certificate in international public law, comparative constitutional law and common law history from the University of Mississippi.

Prior to his appointment to the Superior Court of Quebec for the District of Québec in 2014, Justice Beaupré was a partner at Langlois Desjardins (today known as Langlois Lawyers), which he joined in 1990. He began his practice in 1987 with Marquis Huot in Québec. Justice Beaupré mainly practised civil and administrative litigation, focusing mostly on medical hospital civil liability, health law and Indigenous law.

He was a lecturer in the health law certificate program at Université de Montréal, where he spoke about the liability of pharmaceutical product manufacturers as part of the seminars offered to graduate students of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université Laval. He was also a guest lecturer at the Centre d'études en droit économique (CEDE), which is part of the Faculty of Law at Université Laval, where he spokes about the tax exemptions provided in the Indian Act.

Justice Beaupré occupied the position of secretary of the Jeune Barreau de Québec, and was a member of the Barreau du Québec, where he served on the discipline committee, the joint committee of the Franco Québécois mediation service, and as a Governor of the Fondation Barreau du Québec.

Justice St-Onge obtained a law degree from the University of Ottawa (Faculty of Civil Law) in 1980 and was admitted to the Barreau du Québec in 1981. In 1982, after starting his career in Rimouski, he chose to continue his practice in his home region of Gaspé at Lévesque, Landry & St-Onge in New Carlisle.

He has worked mostly in the judicial districts of Bonaventure and Gaspé , although he has worked throughout various  regions of Quebec. As a regional lawyer, he has practised law as a generalist, mainly in the fields of civil law, liability, insurance, health, banking, commercial and family law.

Justice St-Onge has argued regularly before Quebec’s various administrative courts, the Superior Court of Quebec, the Court of Quebec and the Court of Appeal of Quebec. He has also worked on some cases before the Supreme Court of Canada

He served as a volunteer educator for elected municipal officials in Québec and has volunteered as a legal advisor for various community and not for profit associations. Justice St-Onge is a Lifetime Governor of the Fondation Barreau du Québec. During his career, he has been a director and active member of various community and civic organizations, as well as an internship supervisor on numerous occasions.

Justice Sheehan received his Bachelor of Civil Law and Common Law from McGill University in 1990.

Until his appointment, he practiced law with Fasken Martineau, where he was co-leader of the National Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice group. His main areas of practice were commercial litigation, class action and product liability. He has appeared before courts in all jurisdictions, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also been recognized for his expertise in mediation and arbitration.

Justice Sheehan is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an invitation-only fellowship of exceptional trial lawyers from Canada and the United States. In 2018, he was given the distinction of Advocatus Emeritus, an award granted to members of the Bar of Quebec who have distinguished themselves by the excellence of their professional career and their exceptional contribution to the profession.

Professionally, Justice Sheehan is member of the Board of the Bar of Montreal, the General Counsel of the Barreau du Québec, and numerous committees. He was elected chair of the Quebec Branch of the Canadian Bar Association in 2011-2012 and of the Centre d'accès à l'Information Juridique in 2007-2008.

Justice Sheehan is a professor at the École du Barreau du Québec, where he teaches contract law. He has given seminars and published articles in several areas of the law. He and his wife, Kim Lachapelle, have two children, Jonathan and Chloé.

Justice Perreault has been practicing law since 1994, in the areas of health law, civil litigation and administrative law.

Justice Perreault has a Bachelor of Science (nutrition, 1989) from the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal, a Bachelor of Law (1993) from the Faculty of Political Science and Law at the Université du Québec à Montréal and a Master in Health Law (1996) from the Faculty of Law at the Université de Sherbrooke.

She has also worked as a dietitian/nutritionist at a private clinic and in a hospital, and she has worked in the pharmaceutical industry.

In 2008, she received the honorary title of Advocatus Emeritus from the Barreau du Québec In 2012, she was awarded the CIQ Merit Award by the Ordre professionnel des diététistes du Québec.

She has had delivered more than 50 speaking engagements in her areas of expertise. For a few years, she was a lecturer in the Faculty of Political Science and Law at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

She has been a member of several committees of the Barreau du Québec. She has also been a member of various committees of the Ordre professionnel des diététistes du Québec, where she was also syndic and assistant syndic.

Since 2003, she has been a commissioner on the Board of Directors of the Commission des services juridiques. In 1997, she became legal advisor for the Association des jeunes médecins du Québec.

Throughout her career, she has been a prolific author who has published over 100 legal articles and books.

Justice Poulin received her Bachelor of Law from the Université de Montréal in 1988 and was called to the Bar of Quebec in November 1989. She has spent her career with the insurance law team at Robinson Sheppard Shapiro. Her practice focuses on defending civil and professional liability cases, as well as class actions.

Always concerned with promoting the proper administration of justice, she has developed expertise in preventing and resolving disputes. She became an accredited mediator with the Bar of Quebec in 2012, and has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Alternative Dispute Resolution section of the Quebec Branch of the Canadian Bar Association since 2014. She became Chair of the Executive Committee in 2018.

Justice Poulin has been involved with the next generation throughout her career. She has supervised several young lawyers at her firm. She has also taught civil liability at the École du Barreau for several years. She has been invested in the Seize Your Future mentoring program, which trains the next generation of female leaders.

Justice Poulin was a member of the Disciplinary Committee of the Barreau du Québec from 2008 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2019. She has contributed to and written several publications and has spoken in front of the Quebec Branch of the Canadian Bar Association and the Barreau du Québec’s continuous training program. 

Justice Immer was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1992. He received a Bachelor of Civil and Common Law from McGill University (1991) as well as a Bachelor in Secondary Education in History and Geography from the Université du Québec à Montréal (2008).

He did his internship and worked as a commercial litigation and employment lawyer with Woods LLP until 2005. He participated in the foundation of Sheahan LLP in 2011 and worked there until he was appointed to represent institutional, corporate and individual clients in civil and criminal liability lawsuits, especially in environmental and employment law. He has represented clients before the Superior Court and Court of Appeal of Quebec, the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as before various administrative tribunals.

Throughout his career, he has been invested in teaching and transmitting legal knowledge to lawyers and non-lawyers. He has provided training in environmental law to the Canadian Bar Association and the Jeune Barreau du Québec. He has been responsible for teaching engineering courses at the École Polytechnique and McGill University, and for teaching secondary school students. He has been a member of boards of governors and boards of directors of educational institutions and of an early childhood centre.