Meet Your Commission

The Honourable Alexandre Deschênes (President)

The Honourable Alexandre Deschênes, BA, LLB, is married to Huguette (Savoie) Deschênes and has two sons, François and Alain. He studied at College of St-Joseph in Memramcook, N.B. from 1960 to 1962, the University of Ottawa from 1962 to1965 (BA) and the University of New Brunswick (LLB, 1968). He was admitted to the bar in 1968. He was Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice in Fredericton from 1968 to 1971. He was in private practice from 1972 to 1982 and specialized in civil litigation as a partner in the law firm of Michaud, Leblanc, Robichaud and Deschênes in Shediac and Moncton. In 1982, he was appointed as a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench (Trial Division) in Campbellton. In 1984, he joined the Family Division of the Court of Queen's Bench in Moncton and, in 1988, he came back to the Trial Division of the Court for the Judicial District of Bathurst. In 2000, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick. On July 30, 2009, he was appointed to the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada. Mr. Justice Deschênes is Chair of the New Brunswick Judicial Council.

Dr. Patrick N. Malcolmson (Member)

Dr. Patrick Malcolmson is Professor of Political Science at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. He obtained an MA from the University of Alberta and PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto. Dr. Malcolmson has taught political science at St. Thomas University since 1990, and has served as Chair of the Department of Political Science and as Director of the Human Rights program. He is the co-author of The Canadian Regime, a textbook on the Canadian system of parliamentary government. He is also the author of numerous scholarly articles and reviews on Canadian politics, political theory and the history of political thought. Dr. Malcolmson formerly served as Chair of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission and as Vice-President (Academic) of St. Thomas University.

The Honourable Thomas Riordon (Member)

The Honourable Thomas Riordon was admitted to the Bar of New Brunswick in 1966 and practised law in Bathurst until his appointment to the Court of Queen's Bench New Brunswick (Miramichi) in 1988. Justice Riordon is a current member of the Judges Technology Advisory Sub-Committee of the Administration of Justice Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council and the Judicial Council of New Brunswick. He has previously served as a chair and member of the Mental Health Services Advisory Committee of New Brunswick, as a member of the Expropriations Advisory Board of New Brunswick, as a chair of the New Brunswick Planning Appeal Board, and as a director of the Bathurst School of Nursing. Justice Riordon was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1982.