Pomerance was appointed to the Court of Appeal while the others were appointed to the Superior Court
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Arif Virani, has announced new judicial appointments for Ontario.
Justice Renee M. Pomerance, currently the regional senior judge of the Superior Court of Justice for the Southwest Region, has been appointed as a Judge of the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Toronto.
Pomerance received her Bachelor of Science in 1984 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1987 from the University of Toronto. She was admitted to the bar of Ontario in 1989. She served as the regional senior judge for the Southwest Region since October 2023 and was appointed a judge of the Superior Court in 2006. Before joining the judiciary, she practiced with Crown Law Office - Criminal and had roles as counsel to Peter Cory and senior advisor at the National Judicial Institute.
E. Ria Tzimas, a judge of the Superior Court of Justice in Brampton, has been named the regional senior judge of the Superior Court of Justice for the Central West Region. Tzimas received her Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in 1988, her law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1991, and her Master of Law in Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution in 1999. She was admitted to the Ontario bar in 1993. She was previously a Crown attorney and an associate with Sotos, Karvanis.
Michelle Flaherty, a sole practitioner in Ottawa, has been appointed as a judge of the Superior Court of Justice in L’Orignal. Flaherty graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Bishop’s University in 1992, followed by a law degree from the University of Ottawa in 1998 and a Masters of Law in 2012. She clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and was called to the Ontario bar in 2001. She has been an associate professor of law, a Vice-Chair of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, and a labour arbitrator, mediator, and independent investigator.
Brian DeLorenzi, a partner at O’Neill DeLorenzi Nanne in Sault Ste. Marie has been appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Justice in Sault Ste. Marie. He obtained his Bachelor of Public Administration in 1997 and a law degree from the University of Windsor in 2001. He was admitted to the Ontario bar in 2002 and became a partner at O’Neill DeLorenzi Nanne. His practice focused on civil litigation, primarily in insurance defense and personal injury, along with various other legal areas.
Jacqueline A. Horvat, counsel at Gillian Hnatiw & Co. in Toronto, has been appointed as a judge of the Superior Court of Justice in Windsor. She grew up in Windsor and obtained her law degree from the University of Windsor in 2001. She was called to the Ontario bar in 2002 and practiced litigation, representing plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial disputes and other legal matters. She has been involved in several collaborative projects and served in leadership roles within the Law Society of Ontario and other legal organizations.
“I wish Justices Pomerance, Tzimas, Flaherty, DeLorenzi, and Horvat every success as they take on their new roles. I am confident they will serve Ontarians well as members of the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario,” said Minister Virani.
