OTTAWA — Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin is welcoming Russell Brown to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Alberta appeal court justice was named Monday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as the latest member of the nine-judge panel — Harper's third appointment to the high court in 15 months.
McLachlin says Brown is a distinguished jurist who will bring a wide range of experiences to the high court when he takes his seat Aug. 31.
Brown, a former barrister and law professor, is replacing the retiring Marshall Rothstein, whose departure takes effect the same day.
A member of the bars of both British Columbia and Alberta, Brown currently sits in Edmonton, where he also serves as an appeal judge for both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Harper has appointed seven of the nine Supreme Court judges. His last appointment was high-profile commercial trial lawyer Suzanne Cote, who was named last November.
Cote was appointed after the court ruled Harper's original choice, Justice Marc Nadon, was ineligible to sit on the bench as one of the court's three designated members from Quebec.
Brown joins McLachlin as the only other member of the high court from western Canada.
"Justice Brown is a distinguished jurist," McLachlin said in a statement. "He brings a rich background as an academic, practitioner and judge. I look forward to his contributions to the court."
Brown holds a bachelor's degree from the University of British Columbia and both masters and doctorate of law degrees from the University of Toronto. He also served as an associate professor and associate dean of the University of Alberta's faculty of law.
Brown has practised law in Edmonton, Victoria and Vancouver.
Rothstein was Harper's first appoint
