Court of Appeal judge Geneviève Cotnam appointed Chief Justice of Quebec

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In 2019, she was one of the judges who largely upheld a ruling requiring a comedian, Mike Ward, to pay damages to a disabled singer he mocked.

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The Supreme Court of Canada later set aside that decision.

Cotnam studied at Université Laval and later at York University. Before joining the Court of Appeal, she taught at the Quebec Bar School and her first alma mater and gave lectures throughout the country.

“Being a judge requires great curiosity, open-mindedness, discipline, lots of empathy, listening skills and the ability to learn. Judges have to be willing to work hard, be collegial and, above all, love law, reading and writing,” she told the Canadian Bar Association as part of a series of profiles on female judges.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 12, 2026.

Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman, The Canadian Press