Alberta Judicial Appointments Announced

OTTAWA, Ontario, June 13 - The Canadian Department of Justice announced the following judicial appointment:

The Honourable Peter MacKay, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Central Nova, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments:

The Honourable Larry R.A. Ackerl, a lawyer with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in Edmonton, is appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench (Edmonton) to replace Mr. Justice R.S. Brown, who was appointed to the Court of Appeal of Alberta on March 6, 2014.

Mr. Justice Ackerl received a Bachelor of Laws from Queen's University in 1985. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1987 and the Bar of Alberta in 1992, and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2009.

Mr. Justice Ackerl has served as Senior Counsel and Agent Supervisor with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in Edmonton since 2005. Prior to that, he served as a Deputy Director; as Chairperson of the Appeals Committee; and as Crown Counsel. He has also practised as a litigation associate with Miller, Thomson, Sedgewick, Lewis & Healy in Toronto, and as law clerk to Chief Justice Ewaschuk of the Supreme Court of Ontario. His main area of practice was criminal law.

Mr. Justice Ackerl has served as a Bencher of the Law Society of Alberta since 2009. He has been a frequent lecturer to various organizations, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and an instructor on advocacy skills for Crown prosecutors.

The Honourable D. Blair Nixon, a lawyer with Felesky Flynn in Calgary, is appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench (Calgary) to replace Mr. Justice R.G. Stevens, who passed away on May 13, 2014.

Mr. Justice Nixon received a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta in 1978 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Calgary in 1987. He was called to the Bar of Alberta in 1988 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 2004.

Mr. Justice Nixon had practised with Felesky Flynn since 1988 and has been counsel to the firm since 2012. Over the course of his career, he has developed a broad practice involving corporate law, civil litigation, arbitration, Aboriginal law and estate planning. His focus has been all aspects of commodity and income taxation.

Mr. Justice Nixon received his Fellowship of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2006. He served on the executive of that organization, as well as with the C.D. Howe Institute, the Editorial Board of the Canadian Tax Journal, and the Tax Court of Canada'sBench and Bar Committee. He is the Chair of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta and has been a frequent lecturer for the Canadian Tax Foundation; the Canadian Bar Association; the Calgary Chamber of Commerce; the Canadian Petroleum Tax Society; and The Law Society of Yukon.

These appointments are effective immediately.

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