Richard Wagner ( ; born April 2, 1957) is a Canadian jurist serving as the 18th and current

chief justice of Canada The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court sy ...

since 2017. He previously served as a

puisne justice A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the

Quebec Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal of Quebec (sometimes referred to as Quebec Court of Appeal or QCA) (in French: ''la Cour d'appel du Québec'') is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada. It hears cases in Quebec City and Montreal. History The Court wa ...

(2011–2012) and of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

(2012–2017). For several months in 2021, following

Julie Payette Julie Payette (; born October 20, 1963) is a Canadian engineer, scientist and former astronaut who served from 2017 to 2021 as Governor General of Canada, the 29th since Canadian Confederation. Payette holds engineering degrees from McGill ...

's resignation as Canada's

governor general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, Wagner was the

administrator of the government of Canada The administrator of the Government of Canada () is the title used by the individual performing the duties of Governor General of Canada – the federal viceregal representative – while the office is vacant or its incumbent is otherwise unable ...

as well as chief justice.

Early life

Wagner was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, the son of Gisèle (née Normandeau) and

Claude Wagner Claude Wagner (April 4, 1925 – July 11, 1979) was a Canadian judge and politician in the province of Quebec, Canada. Throughout his career, he was a Crown prosecutor, professor of criminal law and judge. Life and career Wagner was bor ...

, a former member of Parliament and senator.Quebec Court of Appeal
The Honourable Richard Wagner
Retrieved October 2, 2012. He studied at the

Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf , motto_translation = I chose the path of truth , established = , type = Private secondary school and Collegiate , religious_affiliation = Non-denominational, formerly Jesuit , endowment = , dean ...

in Montreal before receiving a bachelor of social science in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

in 1978. He received his Licentiate in Law ( LL.L.) – a civil law equivalent of the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) or Juris Doctor (JD) – from the same institution in 1979.

Career

Private practice and early judicial career

In 1980, Wagner was called to the

Quebec Bar The Bar of Quebec (french: Barreau du Québec) is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Ca ...

, and began practice at the Montreal law firm Lavery, de Billy (formerly Lavery, O'Brien and Lavery, Johnston, Clark, Carrière, Mason & Associés). His practice centred on real estate, commercial litigation and professional liability insurance. He was appointed to the

Quebec Superior Court The Superior Court of Quebec (french: Cour supérieure du Québec) is a superior trial court in the Province of Quebec, in Canada. It consists of 157 judges who are appointed by the federal government. Appeals from this court are taken to the Qu ...

for the district of Montreal on September 24, 2004. On February 3, 2011, he was elevated to the

Court of Appeal of Quebec The Court of Appeal of Quebec (sometimes referred to as Quebec Court of Appeal or QCA) (in French: ''la Cour d'appel du Québec'') is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada. It hears cases in Quebec City and Montreal. History The Court wa ...

Supreme Court of Canada

On October 2, 2012, Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

nominated him to the

to replace retiring Justice

Marie Deschamps Marie Deschamps, CC (born October 2, 1952) is a former puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. She retired from the court on August 7, 2012. In September 2019, Deschamps was appointed as a member of the National Security and Intelligence ...

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

(October 2, 2012)
"Quebec judge Richard Wagner nominated to Supreme Court"
. Retrieved October 2, 2012. His appointment was confirmed on October 5, 2012. On December 3, 2012, a ceremony was held for Wagner's appointment in the Supreme Court of Canada courtroom. The event was attended by outgoing chief justice

Beverley McLachlin Beverley Marian McLachlin (born September 7, 1943) is a Canadian jurist and author who served as the 17th chief justice of Canada from 2000 to 2017. She is the longest-serving chief justice in Canadian history and the first woman to hold the p ...

, the federal minister of justice and attorney general,

Rob Nicholson Robert Douglas "Rob" Nicholson (born April 29, 1952) is a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Niagara Falls in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2019 as a member of the Conservative Party. Under Prime Minister Stephen Ha ...

and the Quebec deputy minister of justice, Nathalie G. Drouin. On December 12, 2017, Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

appointed Wagner as Beverly McLachlin's successor as chief justice of Canada. Wagner has volunteered to judge law school moot competitions. For example, he sat on the final panel for the Willms & Shier environmental law moot in March 2022 won by Sarah Ormandy and Anya Manukyan of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

Administrator of Canada

On January 23, 2021, Wagner became Administrator of the Government of Canada following

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

's resignation in response to a workplace harassment investigation. By virtue of royal letters patent issued in 1947, the chief justice of Canada is the ''ex officio'' principal deputy to the governor general, and may act as governor general when the office is vacant. Only justices of the Supreme Court of Canada are authorized to perform federal viceregal duties on an acting basis. He ceased to hold office as administrator on July 26, 2021, following

Mary Simon Mary Jeannie May Simon (in Inuktitut syllabics: ᒥᐊᓕ ᓴᐃᒪᓐ, iu, script=Latn, Ningiukudluk; born August 21, 1947) is a Canadian civil servant, diplomat, and former broadcaster who has served as the 30th governor general of Canada ...

's appointment as governor general. Serving for six months, Wagner was the longest-serving administrator of Canada in history.

Personal life

Wagner is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

."Richard Wagner". ''Canadian Who's Who 2014-2015''. Toronto: Third Sector Publishing, 2015. Wagner's father Claude was also a jurist. His grandfather was a German Jewish immigrant originally from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. Wagner has two children who are also lawyers.

Honours

Scholastic

;Honorary degrees

Memberships and fellowships

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Richard 1957 births Judges in Quebec Living people University of Ottawa alumni People from Montreal Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada Canadian people of German-Jewish descent Canadian Roman Catholics French Quebecers University of Ottawa Faculty of Law alumni Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Chief justices of Canada 21st-century Canadian judges