Michael Tulloch appointed next Chief Justice of Ontario

Justice Michael Tulloch leaves a press conference relating to the report from the Independent Street Checks Review looking at Ontario's regulation on police street cheeks at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Friday, January 4, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin 

Michael Tulloch, the first Black justice to sit on a provincial appellate court in Canada, has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of Ontario.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tulloch's appointment, calling him a highly respected member of the legal community.

The former Crown attorney in Peel and Toronto was first admitted to the bar in 1991 before he was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario in 2003.

A biography posted to the Prime Minister's Office website says Tulloch became the first Black justice to sit on a provincial appellate court when he was elevated to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2012.

The Jamaican-born, Osgoode Hall Law School-educated justice has led independent reviews of Ontario's police oversight system and street check regulations.

Tulloch, who also assumes the role of President of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, replaces George R. Strathy, who retired at the end of August.

This report by The Canadian Press was first publishedDec. 20, 2022.