First Black appellate justice in Canada appointed next Chief Justice of Ontario
Michael Tulloch, of Jamaican origin, has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of Ontario, making him the first Black justice to sit on any Canadian appellate court.
Tulloch’s appointment was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who described him as a highly respected member of the legal community.
Before being appointed to the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario in 2003, the former Crown attorney in Peel and Toronto was admitted to the bar in 1991.
When he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2012, he became the first Black justice to sit on a Canadian appellate court.
The Osgoode Hall Law School-educated Jamaican-born justice has led independent reviews of Ontario’s police oversight system and street check regulations.
Tulloch, who also serves as President of the Ontario Court of Appeal, succeeds George R. Strathy, who retired at the end of August.