Jennifer Khurana is a bilingual lawyer and experienced decision-maker with a background in social justice, human rights, and international law.

Ms. Khurana was previously the Vice-Chairperson of the CHRT. She has also served as a Vice-Chairperson at the Social Security Tribunal of Canada and at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and as a Member of the Ontario Social Benefits Tribunal.

Internationally, Ms. Khurana was the Director of International Humanitarian Law at the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C., and from 2003-2009 served as legal advisor in Chambers and as External Relations Advisor to the President of the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Jennifer was the Chairperson of the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals (CCAT) from 2019 to 2022 and served on CCAT’s executive committee as Past Chair until June 2023.

Jennifer holds an LL.M. from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Lund University in Sweden. She also has a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa.

On March 25, 2022, Ms. Khurana was appointed as the Chairperson of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for a seven-year term.

Athanasios Hadjis is a lawyer and experienced adjudicator, specializing in human rights, administrative, employment and labour law. He received his Bachelor’s Degrees in Civil Law (B.C.L.) and Common Law (L.L.B.) from McGill University in 1986. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1987.

From 1995 until 2010, Mr. Hadjis was a part-time and full-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. He served as the Tribunal’s Vice-chairperson between 2005 and 2010. During his tenure with the Tribunal, Mr. Hadjis conducted inquiries and wrote decisions with respect to human rights complaints involving discriminatory practices ranging from harassment and discrimination in employment to systemic discrimination, pay equity, and hate messages.

Following his tenure with the Tribunal, Mr. Hadjis was senior legal counsel with the Public Service Staffing Tribunal and later with the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada, serving the Secretariat to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB). The FPSLREB combines adjudicative functions with responsibilities as an impartial third party in the collective bargaining process and responsibilities for dealing with complaints related to appointments, revocations of appointments and lay-off processes.

Mr. Hadjis has been a frequent conference speaker on the topics of decision-writing, public service employment, administrative and human rights law and access to justice issues. He is the course director of the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunal’s five-day Interactive Course on Adjudication.

Mr. Hadjis was appointed as the Tribunal’s Vice-chairperson in June 2022 for a seven-year term, effective July 18, 2022.

Colleen Harrington

Colleen Harrington graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s and Gender Studies, and English. She received her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of New Brunswick, and was called to the Bars of Ontario in 2003, Nunavut in 2004, and the Yukon in 2008.

Ms. Harrington has significant experience in the human rights field, gained in Canada and abroad. In 2001, as an intern at the League of Kenya Women Voters in Nairobi, Kenya, Ms. Harrington created and implemented a paralegal training program for women, and was involved in a joint Canada-Kenya project on violence against women, sponsored by the Canadian Lawyers Association for International Human Rights.

Ms. Harrington worked as a poverty law lawyer with Hamilton Mountain Legal and Community Services in Hamilton, Ontario, before moving to the Canadian Arctic in 2004 to practice family and criminal law with the Legal Services Board of Nunavut. She became the acting Executive Director of the organization in 2007.

In 2008, Ms. Harrington worked as a staff lawyer with the Yukon Legal Services Society in Whitehorse, Yukon, before joining the Yukon Human Rights Commission as legal counsel in 2009.

Ms. Harrington was appointed as a full-time Member to the Tribunal in January 2018, and re-appointed for a term of five years, effective March 25, 2022.

Kathryn Raymond, K.C.

Kathryn Raymond K.C. received her law degree from the Dalhousie Schulich School of Law in 1985. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1987 and the Nova Scotia Bar in 1990. She was in-house counsel to the Ontario Ministry of Health before becoming a senior partner with BOYNECLARKE LLP in Nova Scotia where she practiced health, employment and administrative law and acted as neutral counsel to professional disciplinary tribunals.

Ms. Raymond is an experienced decision maker and mediator, having decided diverse human rights cases and workplace disputes in Nova Scotia as a labour relations arbitrator, a Human Rights Board of Inquiry, a member of the Minister of Labour’s List of Arbitrators, and Vice-Chair of the Labour Board. She has been appointed as an Assessment Appeals Tribunal and as an arbitrator of insurance and education related disputes. Ms. Raymond is an inducted member of the Canadian Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

Ms. Raymond has contributed to policy development in her roles and to statutory and regulatory development in Nova Scotia. In 2019, she co-authored the Report of the Expert Panel on Modern Federal Labour Standards. Ms. Raymond has been invited to speak at numerous conferences. She chaired the Administrative Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association (N.S.) and was a member of the Regional Advisory Committee of the Advocates’ Society, the ADR Atlantic Institute and the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice. Previously she chaired the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society Task Force on the Model Code of Conduct and the Society’s Ethics and Professional Responsibility Advisory Committee and was a member of the Board of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.

Ms. Raymond was appointed a part-time member of the CHRT in 2019 for a five-year term. On May 27, 2021, she was appointed as a full-time member of the CHRT for a period of five years.

Catherine Fagan
Newfoundland and Labrador

Catherine Fagan graduated from McGill University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Civil law and a Bachelor of Common Law. She is currently the Managing Partner of Arbutus Law Group LLP, a boutique law firm working exclusively with Indigenous governments, Indigenous businesses and environmental organizations. She is a member of the Barreau du Québec, the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Law Society of Manitoba. Her work focuses on self-governance, constitutional law, environmental law and business development.

Ms. Fagan has worked on cases at all court levels and is experienced in treaty compliance, Indigenous rights and title claims, requirements to consult/obtain consent for resource development projects, housing and land management, protected areas and forestry.

Ms. Fagan works in both English and French.

Ms. Fagan is the President of the Board of Directors for First Light, St. John’s Native Friendship Centre. She has also volunteered for many years with Lawyers Without Borders Canada, working particularly with Indigenous nations in Central and South America. She previously worked with the United Nations Secretariat for the Convention on Biodiversity, as well as the Maori Waikato-Tainui Tribal Council in New Zealand.

In April 2021, Ms. Fagan was appointed as a part-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for a term of five years.

Marie Langlois
Quebec

After earning a B.A. in Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resources Management, Marie Langlois worked in human resources management, particularly in labour relations and negotiating collective agreements in Quebec’s public service, for several years. She subsequently began studying law and was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1996, and went on to work at the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal as legal counsel, where she attended hearings, conducted research, wrote draft decisions and advised the Tribunal’s judges.

In 2000, Ms. Langlois was appointed as an administrative judge at the Administrative Labour Tribunal of Quebec (the former Commission des lésions professionnelles [employment injury board]). Over the years, she has issued more than 1,000 decisions in the field of occupational health and safety, through an exclusively adjudicative process. At the same time, she worked as coordinating administrative judge for the region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the Outaouais. In addition, in 2015 Ms. Langlois undertook a consultation tour that focused on the duty of reasonable accommodation under the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, speaking to about a hundred of her administrative judge colleagues. She also provides mentoring and training to new judges.

Ms. Langlois left the Administrative Labour Tribunal in July 2018 to join the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal as a part-time member.

Kirsten Mercer
Ontario

Kirsten Mercer attended the University of Guelph, graduating with an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in International Development Studies, before completing a Master of Arts degree in International Political Economy from the University of Toronto. Ms. Mercer graduated with honours from the McGill Faculty of Law in Montreal with a Bachelor of Civil Law / Bachelor of Laws degree and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2007.

Ms. Mercer brings a broad mix of experience to her role at the Tribunal. She practices human rights and employment law at a leading labour law firm in Toronto and previously practiced litigation at a large firm on Bay Street in Toronto. From 2013 to 2016, Ms. Mercer worked in government as the Senior Justice Advisor in the Office of the Premier of Ontario and then as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

Ms. Mercer has worked on gender-based violence, human rights and social justice issues throughout her career. In her litigation practice and as a member of the community, Ms. Mercer has worked with various community organizations and boards.

Prior to her legal career, Ms. Mercer worked in the non-profit sector in Toronto on international development, human rights and economic justice.

Ms. Mercer was appointed as a Member of the Tribunal in January 2017. Ms. Mercer was re-appointed as a part-time Member for a term of five years, effective March 25, 2022.

Naseem Mithoowani
Ontario

Naseem Mithoowani received her Bachelor of Arts degree in French and French literature from McMaster University, and her law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. Ms. Mithoowani was called to the bar in 2008. Ms. Mithoowani has practiced exclusively in the area of immigration and refugee law since 2009, and is currently one of two principal lawyers of a law firm focused in that same area. In her role, Ms. Mithoowani regularly appears before the Federal Court of Canada and represents individuals at all levels of the Immigration and Refugee Board. 

In addition, Ms. Mithoowani teaches Immigration Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, as an adjunct professor of law.  Ms. Mithoowani has also acted as chair of a steering committee on an initiative to create a legal clinic for Muslims in Ontario and has been involved in numerous community organizations. She has been invited to speak at a number of conferences, including for the Law Society of Ontario, the Canadian Bar Association and the Munk School of Global Affairs.   

Ms. Mithoowani was appointed to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal part-time, for five years, in 2021.

Jennifer Orange
Ontario

Jennifer Orange holds an S.J.D. from the University of Toronto and an LL.M. from New York University. She also holds an LL.B. from the University of Toronto and a B.A. in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2000.

Ms. Orange is an Assistant Professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Ryerson University. She has also taught courses relating to human rights law at the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario law faculties.

An experienced mediator and adjudicator, Ms. Orange was a part-time member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. She previously practiced as a litigation lawyer at Torys LLP in a broad range of areas, including administrative law.

Ms. Orange has a long history of volunteer work with non-profit organizations, with a focus on mental health and rare diseases.

Ms. Orange was appointed as a part-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal effective April 8, 2021 for a five-year term.

Daniel Simonian
Ontario

Daniel Simonian studied law at the Université de Montréal, where he was honoured with the Judge Herbert Marx award for excellence in legal writing. Me Simonian went on to complete his common law training at the University of Toronto and then obtained a master’s in constitutional law (LL.M.) from Osgoode Hall, where he completed a dissertation on human rights and immigration law policy. During his legal studies, Me Simonian created and delivered public legal education workshops on civil rights to local high school students. He was also an active board member of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group, an anti-oppression resource centre for student and community research and organizing.

After graduating, Me Simonian completed a clerkship for the chief judge of the Tribunal administratif du Québec, where he worked predominantly on social benefits and immigration cases. After being called to the Quebec and Ontario Bars, Me Simonian worked in private practice as well as for several community legal clinics, providing legal assistance to low-income Ontario residents. He then went on to work at Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) where he managed and developed national large-scale access to justice programs. As a committed advocate for access to justice programs, Me Simonian developed the Trans I.D. Clinic, a free service that assists trans and gender-diverse individuals with name and gender marker change applications. Following its successful launch in locations across Canada, the Trans I.D. Clinic was nominated for the Canadian Pro Bono Award. During his tenure at PBSC, Me Simonian also taught refugee law at the University of British Columbia and volunteered as an executive member of the Ontario Bar Association.

In 2019, Me Simonian joined the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) as a full-time member, where he conducts human rights research, presides over hearings, and renders decisions. At the IRB, he has had the opportunity to gain valuable experience in adjudication, decision writing, and applying procedural fairness rules.

In 2021, Me Simonian was appointed as a part-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

Paul Singh
British Columbia

In April 2021, Paul Singh was appointed as a part-time tribunal member with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for a five-year term.

Mr. Singh holds a bachelor of science degree and a law degree from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University. He was called to the bars of Ontario and British Columbia in 2004.

From 2004 to 2010, Mr. Singh was a civil litigator in private practice in British Columbia. From 2010 to 2018, he was counsel and later senior counsel with the Department of Justice Canada in the Vancouver office where he practiced civil litigation, administrative law, constitutional law, and human rights law.

From April 2018 to March 2022, Mr. Singh served a four-year appointment as a tribunal member with the BC Human Rights Tribunal, where he adjudicated and mediated human rights complaints under the BC Human Rights Code. While at the Tribunal, he completed his mediator training at Harvard Law School’s program on negotiation in 2019 and was appointed acting chair of the Tribunal in February 2021 for a six-month term.

Currently, Mr. Singh is serving an appointment as a board member and alternate chair of the British Columbia Review Board. This Board, established under the Criminal Code, holds hearings and makes dispositions for any accused in British Columbia where a court has rendered a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder or unfit to stand trial. He is also serving an appointment as chair of the British Columbia Mental Health Review Board, which conducts hearings under the Mental Health Act for patients admitted by physicians and detained involuntarily in provincial mental health facilities. He currently sits on the board of directors of the BC Council of Administrative Tribunals and on the executive committee of the Public Sector Lawyers section of the Canadian Bar Association (B.C. branch).