Robert
Pidgeon

Hotline: 367 777-0804

M^e Robert Pidgeon was a judge of the Court of Appeal and Associate Chief Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec before joining Cain Lamarre in Quebec City as a consulting partner. With a career spanning more than 50 years, his track record is impressive and his experience invaluable. A graduate of the Université de Moncton with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Law from Université Laval, M^e Pidgeon has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1970.

Recognized for his knowledge of ethics and deontology, he brings a solid professional background and a unique sense of human contact. Throughout his career, M^e Pidgeon has specialized in litigation (construction, disciplinary, commercial law, commercial and municipal litigation, recourses of all types, civil and professional liability, estates), human rights and family law (ethics, institutional care and custody, child custody and access rights, division of property rights, separation and divorce, estates) and in municipal law (territorial and urban planning, law of expropriation for public purposes, operation of the municipal council, elections, criminal offences under municipal law).

M^e Pidgeon has always been committed to the advancement of the law and the improvement of practice in the judicial community. During his career, he has given more than one hundred conferences on topics such as civil procedure reform, health law, access to justice, case management and deontology.

Highly involved in his community, M^e Pidgeon has also been a director of the Union des Municipalités du Québec, Chairman of the Board of the Caisse Populaire de Gaspé, and director of the Fédération des Caisses Populaires de la Gaspésie et des Îles-de-la-Madeleine. He was also President of the Conference of Superior Court Judges of Quebec, member of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council and member of the Board of Directors of the T.A.Q. Group.

M^e Pidgeon's work has been recognized on several occasions. He has been awarded the Quebec Bar medal and the Grands diplômés prize for distinguished graduates from Université Laval.

His maxim “It’s never too late to do the right thing” sums up M^e Pidgeon’s proactive attitude when confronted with life’s challenges. Mental health, ethics and the environment are among the causes that he holds dear to his heart.

Assistant: Nicole Rousseau

Expertise

• Litigation (construction, disciplinary, disciplinary, commercial litigation, municipal, remedies of all types, civil liability, estates)
• Personal and family law (ethics, care, and institutional care, child custody and access, division of property rights, separation and divorce, estates)
• Municipal law (land use and urban planning, right of expropriation for public purposes, ethics and professional conduct, functioning of municipal councils, elections, ethics, and professional conduct , penal offences pertaining to municipal law)
• Mediation and arbitration

Education

• Bachelor of Law, Université Laval (1969)
• Bachelor of Arts, Université de Moncton (1966)

Professional experience

• Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court, Quebec (2001 to 2019)
• Justice of the Court of Appeal, Quebec (1997 to 2001)
• Coordinating Judge of the Superior Court, Rimouski (1989 to 1997)
• Pidgeon & Joncas, Gaspé (1970 to 1989)

Lecturing, conferences, publications

• Guest speaker and trainer for a number of associations, courts, Barreau du Québec and bar sections, professional federations, universities, etc., at annual meetings and conferences and other occasions (2001 to 2019)
• Trainer for judges and members of the Barreau de Québec for the implementation of the reform of the Code of Civil Procedure (2015 and 2016)
• Guest trainer for the Quebec Bar School on case management (2012 to 2016)
• Guest trainer on judicial ethics at a conference for judges of the Superior Courts of Canada (2012)
• Guest speaker for the National Judicial Institute at training sessions on management of difficult cases (2011 to 2016)
• Guest instructor for the National Judicial Institute on oral judgments (2007 to 2010)
• Guest speaker for the Law Students’ Association at Université Laval (2006 to 2009)
• Guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Association of Canadian Court Administrators (fall 2006)
• Trainer for Chinese judges (2005)
• Guest instructor on family law at training sessions for new judges, at the request of the National Judicial Institute (1999 to 2005)
• Guest instructor for the National Judicial Institute on judicial ethics (November 2002 and March 2003)
• Trainer at a course on health law given by the Continuing Education Department of the Barreau du Québec (2002)

Associations, committees, boards

• Coroner for the Judicial District of Gaspé
• President of the Gaspé Chamber of Commerce
• President of the regional Chamber of Commerce
• President of the Caisse populaire de Gaspé
• Board member of the Fédération des caisses populaires de la Péninsule et des Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• President of the Fondation de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Gaspé and member of the Fondation du musée de la Gaspésie
• Mayor of Gaspé (for over 11 years)
• Prefect of the M.R.C. de la Côte de Gaspé
• Member of the Board of the Union des municipalités du Québec
• Chair of the Advisory Committee to the provincial and federal governments regarding the application of the Canada-Quebec agreements for eastern Quebec
• Chair of the socioeconomic conference of Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• Member of the board of directors of the Groupe T.A.Q.
• Member of the Subcommittee of the Canadian Judicial Council on justice efficiencies and access to the justice system in the Superior Courts (2017 to 2018)
• Member of the provincial committee on the image of the courts (2013 to 2019)
• Member of the committee on judges’ security (2012 to 2019)
• Member of the Forum québécois sur l'accès à la justice civile et familiale (2014 to 2018)
• Chaired the Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council on Judicial Independence and the nomination process (2011 to 2018)
• Represented the Canadian Judicial Council on the Action Committee on Access to Civil and Family Justice and the provincial and territorial access committees (2009 to 2018)
• Member of the National Committee on justice efficiencies and access to the justice system in criminal cases (2003 to 2018)
• Vice-Chair of the Judicial Conduct Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council (2002 to 2018)
• Member of the Executive of the Canadian Judicial Council (2004 to 2017)
• Member of the Board of the  Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (2013 to 2015)
• Member of the Advisory Committee to the Chair of the Canadian Judicial Council, the Hon. Beverley McLachlin (2005 to 2011)
• Member of the National Committee on Public Information of the Canadian Judicial Council (2003 to 2011)
• Member of the Executive of the Canadian Judicial Council (2004 to 2007 and 2008 to 2019)
• Member of the Nominating Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council (September 2006)
• President of the Conference of Judges of the Superior Courts of Quebec (1994 to 1997)
• Chair of the Board of the Caisse populaire de Gaspé and member of the board of the Fédération des Caisses Populaires de la Gaspésie et des Îles de la Madeleine (1984 to 1989)
• Member of the Board of the Union des Municipalités du Québec (1985 to 1989)
• President of the Conference of Judges of the Superior Courts of Quebec (1988 to 1989)

Distinctions

• Recipient of the Medal of the Barreau du Québec (2023)
• Recipient of the Université Laval Grand Diplômés award (2018)
• Appointed Chair of the Judicial Conduct Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council (2018)
• Recipient of the Medal of the Barreau de Québec (2017)
• Appointed to the Canadian Sub-committee on the Use of Deputy Judges (2017)
• Appointed to the Committee for a new Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs (2008, 2012 and 2017)
• Honorary chair of the conference for the 10th anniversary of the Civil Code of Québec organized by the Chambre des notaires du Québec (October 2003)
• Appointed to the Canadian Judicial Council Subcommittee on Trial Court Structures (2003)
• Appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec (October 2001)
• Appointed to manage the Judicial Conciliation Service at the Court of Appeal and to manage students’ articles (1998)
• Appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal (1997)
• Appointed to the Board of the Canadian Judges Conference (1995)
• Elected Vice-President of the Conference of Judges of the Superior Courts of Quebec (1993)
• Appointed Judge of the Superior Court with residence in Rimouski (May 1989)