TORONTO, March 7, 2007 - The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) congratulates The Honourable Guylène Beaugé and the Honourable Beth Anna Allen on their appointments as judges of the Superior Courts of Quebec and Ontario, respectively. Their appointments were announced last Friday, March 2nd by the Federal Minister of Justice, the Honourable Robert Douglas Nicholson.
"The appointment of racialized persons, particularly in these relatively closed arenas in Canada, potentially brings about another very relevant dimension in the administration of justice," observes Dr. Ayman Al-Yassini, executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. "We congratulate and encourage the government to continue to make more of these appointments, to reflect Canada's multi-ethnic and multi-cultural reality. The appointment of racialized persons to the bench brings greater legitimacy to the justice sytem."
Madame Justice Beaugé becomes the first judge of the Superior Court of Quebec who is of African descent, and is only the third judge of African descent in all of Quebec. A graduate of the Université de Montréal Madame Justice Beaugé has been a past president of the Quebec Branch of the Canadian Bar Association and was President of the Justice and Equality Committee of CRARR.
Madame Justice Beth Allen was a lawyer with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario at the Ministry of Finance (Ontario). She holds a Master of Laws, specializing in Intellectual property degree from Osgoode Hall, York University. She is also an active contributor to the North American Black Historical Museum.