Court of Appeal judge Geneviève Cotnam appointed Chief Justice of Quebec

Montreal - Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Geneviève Cotnam as the new Chief Justice of Quebec. Cotnam succeeds Manon Savard, who resigned on August 10. Cotnam has served as a judge at the Court of Appeal of Quebec since 2018. She was one of the judges who upheld a ruling in 2019 that allowed comedian Mike Ward to pay damages to a disabled singer he had mocked, although the Supreme Court of Canada later overturned that decision.

Cotnam studied at Université Laval and York University before joining the Court of Appeal in 2018. She has taught at the Quebec Bar School and given lectures across the country. In an interview with the Canadian Bar Association, Cotnam emphasized the qualities needed to be a successful judge, including curiosity, open-mindedness, discipline, empathy, listening skills, and a love of law, reading, and writing.