On February 14, 2025, the Honourable Justice Phillip W. Sutherland assigned Justice Suzan Fraser as the case management judge for the defamation lawsuit commenced against me by Barrie Housing. Here’s Justice Sutherland’s letter:
I agreed to case management on December 31, 2024, which was the day I had scheduled an urgent motion hearing to have my motion to dismiss Barrie Housing’s defamation action heard (there wasn’t enough time to have it heard though). Justice M. McKelvey was the motion judge that day.
Today I finally took some time to Google Justice Fraser and I’m so happy I did. She has a long history working as a social justice advocacy lawyer. Justice Fraser became a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 2022, and replaced Justice M. McKelvey.
About Justice Suzan Fraser
Justice Fraser was born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, and she and her two sisters were raised in Thornhill, Ontario. Her mom was a teacher, and her father was a civil engineer, who sounds like he specialized in building bridges, as well as tunnels under lakes, rivers and canals. Justice Fraser obtained a Bachelor of Arts and Science from McMaster University in 1990 and a law degree from Western University in 1993 and was called to the Ontario bar in 1995.
In 2000, after practising in a well-known social justice law firm, Swadron, Justice Fraser founded Fraser Advocacy, a public law practice with an emphasis on mental health law and enhancing the rights of vulnerable persons. She has appeared at all levels of court in Canada and before the Ontario Review Board and other tribunals. She was privileged to represent families, Ontario’s Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, and organizations at many coroner’s inquests. She acted for families and organizations at several public inquiries, including the Gillese Inquiry into the Safety and Security of Residents in the Long-Term Care Homes System in Ontario and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, where she represented a group of 20 families.
Justice Fraser enjoyed teaching and regularly contributed to legal education. She has taught Mental Health Law and Policy at the Faculty of Health as part of the Critical Disabilities Studies Program at York University, and Psychiatry and the Law at Osgoode Hall Law School. She volunteered as a Director of Sound Times Support Services, a member-driven consumer/survivor initiative providing mental health and addiction services in downtown Toronto.
I feel honoured to have Justice Fraser as our case management judge.
I also just finished watching this one-hour interview with her on YouTube, from 2021. This interview is really good and I encourage you to listen to all of it, but I did extract a couple short snippets that really stood out to me:
What Does A Case Management Judge Do?
Pursuant to rule 37.15 of the Rules of Civil Procedure,, where a proceeding involves complicated issues, or where there are two or more proceedings that involve similar issues, the Chief Justice, Associate Chief Justice, Regional Senior Judge, or his or her designate, may direct that all motions in the proceedings be heard by a particular judge (the case management judge). The case management judge can give directions and make procedural orders necessary to promote the most expeditious and least expensive determination of the proceeding.
Although I haven’t communicated with Justice Fraser yet, I feel like she’s a long-awaited answer to prayer.
I’m so thankful that she’s been assigned to the case.
Comments