Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada announces judicial appointments in the province of Ontario

August 29, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Justice Canada  

The Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments under the judicial application process established in 2016. This process emphasizes transparency, merit, and the diversity of the Canadian population, and will continue to ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of excellence and integrity.

Bhavneet K. Bhangu, Assistant Crown Attorney at the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario in Barrie, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Newmarket. Justice Bhangu replaces Justice J. Dawe (Newmarket), who was elevated to the Court of Appeal for Ontario on November 3, 2023.

Jasminka Kalajdzic, Professor at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Windsor. Justice Kalajdzic replaces Justice R.M. Pomerance (Windsor), who was elevated to the Court of Appeal for Ontario on July 19, 2024.

Jane O. Dietrich, Partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP in Toronto, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Toronto. Justice Dietrich replaces Justice D. Wilson (Toronto), who was elevated to the Court of Appeal for Ontario effective April 30, 2024.

Quote

“I wish Justices Bhangu, Kalajdzic, and Dietrich every success as they take on their new roles. I am confident they will serve Ontarians well as members of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario”.

—The Hon. Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Biographies

Justice Bhavneet K. Bhangu was born into a Sikh family in Punjab India and immigrated to Canada in 1974 as a young child. Her family settled in Vancouver, which gave her the opportunity to go to school in the ethnically rich and diverse neighbourhood of south Vancouver. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics at the University of British Columbia, she attended Osgoode Hall Law school graduating in 1992. She was called to the Bar in 1994. 

Justice Bhangu has been an Assistant Crown attorney since 1996 serving in the Thunder Bay, Sudbury, and Barrie Crown Attorney offices, the latter for the last 24 years. After her articles and tenure as Crown Counsel with the Ministry of Labour, her focus and interest shifted to criminal law and prosecutions under the Criminal Code.  

Justice Bhangu had the opportunity and privilege to become a mentor for young lawyers over the last two decades. She has also served her Barrie community by being a coach to high school students in the Simcoe County Mock Trial competitions. In addition to her prosecutorial duties, she has devoted herself to the education of police officers around Simcoe County, in multiple police detachments of the Ontario Provincial Police and at the Barrie Police Service. Her interest in law was rooted in her volunteer work in her Punjabi Sikh community – with women who experienced domestic violence and with farmworkers in the Fraser Valley who experienced exploitation.

Justice Bhangu lives in Barrie with her wonderful husband and is a devoted daughter, sister and aunt to her family in Vancouver. She enjoys travelling with her husband and spending time with her other passion - cooking for her family and friends in BC and Ontario.

Justice Jasminka Kalajdzic was born and raised in Windsor. She obtained a BA in English Literature and Lettres Françaises from the University of Ottawa in 1992, and her LLB and LLM from the University of Toronto in 1995 and 2009, respectively. She was admitted to the Law Society of Ontario in 1997.

Justice Kalajdzic spent twelve years in private practice as a civil litigator, first at Torys, then Sutts Strosberg LLP. She joined the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor in 2009 where she was eventually promoted to Full Professor. At Windsor Law, she taught Evidence, Class Actions, Access to Justice and Legal Ethics, served as Associate Dean, and directed the Advocacy and Mooting Program. She was the founder and director of the Class Action Clinic, the first clinic in the world to focus on the needs and interests of class members.

Justice Kalajdzic is widely published, including Class Actions in Canada: The Promise and Reality of Access to Justice (2018) and over fifty book chapters and articles. She was the co-principal researcher and co-author of the Law Commission of Ontario’s Class Action Report (2019) and has been a frequent presenter at academic conferences and continuing legal and judicial education seminars. In 2023, she was elected Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, where she also served as an adjudicator at the Law Society Tribunal.

Justice Jane O. Dietrich received her law degree from the University of Toronto in 2003 after obtaining her Bachelor of Science, Kinesiology degree from the University of Waterloo in 1998. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 2004.

Justice Dietrich began her legal career and became a partner with Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in Toronto. For the past 10 years she has been a partner with Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP in Toronto with a practice focused on insolvency, restructuring and related commercial litigation. 

Justice Dietrich became a fellow of INSOL International in 2010 and has formerly sat on the board of that organization. She was a member of the Insolvency Institute of Canada and the International Insolvency Institute. She has been a regular contributor to continuing professional development programs and was formerly an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Law School, where she taught Bankruptcy Law.  She has been repeatedly recognized by Chambers, Benchmark Litigation, Best Lawyers in Canada, Lexpert, IFLR1000 among others.

Justice Dietrich is grateful for the ongoing support of her husband, Richard and their two wonderful children.