OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to appoint a new judge to the Supreme Court of Canada this morning.
The new addition would ensure that the nine-member bench remains at full strength after Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin retires on December 15th.
Insiders say the announcement will not include naming a new chief justice.
Trudeau has been under pressure to appoint the first Indigenous judge to the country's top court.
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould wouldn't say yesterday if that will happen, but noted that the government sought applications from judges in western and northern Canada.
The Liberal government brought in a new Supreme Court appointment process last year to encourage more openness, transparency and diversity, and that high court justices be functionally bilingual.
