Who we are

Chairperson: Jennifer Khurana

Jennifer Khurana was appointed Chairperson of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on March 25, 2022, for a seven-year term. Ms. Khurana was previously Vice-Chairperson of the Tribunal. She has also served as vice-chairperson of the Social Security Tribunal of Canada, was Vice-Chairperson at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and has served as a member of the Ontario Social Benefits Tribunal. Ms. Khurana is a bilingual lawyer and experienced decision-maker with a background in social justice, human rights and international law.

Internationally, Ms. Khurana was the Director of International Humanitarian Law at the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C., and from 2003 to 2009 served as a legal advisor in Chambers and as an external relations advisor to the President of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Ms. Khurana was the Chairperson of the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals (CCAT) from 2019 to 2022 and served on CCAT’s Executive Committee as past chairperson until 2023. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Plain Language.

Ms. Khurana 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.

Mr. Athanasios Hadjis was appointed the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s Vice-Chairperson in June 2022 for a seven-year term, effective July 18, 2022.

Mr. Hadjis is a lawyer and experienced adjudicator, specializing in human rights, administrative, employment and labour law. He received his Bachelor in Civil Law (B.C.L.) and Common Law (LL.B.) degree from McGill University in 1986. He was called to the Barreau du Québec in 1987. From 1995 until 2010, Mr. Hadjis was a member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. He served as the Tribunal’s vice-chairperson between 2005 and 2010. 

Following his tenure with the Tribunal, Mr. Hadjis became 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 is a frequent speaker on the topics of decision-writing, public service employment, administrative and human rights law and access to justice. He is the Course Director of the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunal’s five-day Interactive Course on Adjudication.

Ashley Bressette-Martinez

Ashley Bressette-Martinez was appointed as a full-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in September 2024 for a five-year term, effective October 15, 2024.

Ashley started her career as a Clerk at the Federal Court of Canada after finishing law school at the University of Ottawa. Over the last two decades, she’s worked in progressively senior roles in a number of federal commissions and tribunals. Ashley conducted investigations and litigation into complex cases at the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner. She was an Advisor and Counsel at the Immigration and Refugee Board with a focus on immigration and refugee appeals. Later, Ashley was the Chief of Staff to Chairpersons at both the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Social Security Tribunal of Canada. Her most recent roles as a Senior Director for Program and Quality Excellence managing refugee appeals and later as Regional Director General for the Courts Administration Service drew on her experience from the Social Security Tribunal where she was instrumental in using user-centred design to change how justice services are provided to the public.  

Ashley is fluent in English, French and Spanish. She is a member of the Metis Nation of Ontario. She is also a member of the Law Society of Ontario. 

Sarah Churchill-Joly 

Sarah Churchill-Joly was appointed as a full-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in February 2024 for a five-year term. 

Ms. Churchill-Joly is a bilingual lawyer, mediator, and negotiator with expertise in Canadian and international human rights, Indigenous rights, and labour law. She holds a Licence en droit (LL.L) and a Common Law degree (LL.B.) from the University of Ottawa, and she is a member of the Ontario Bar.

Ms. Churchill-Joly began her legal career as Counsel for the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, during which time she supported the Tribunal in a range of human rights matters including the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society case, which dealt with the funding of child welfare services on reserve. Ms. Churchill-Joly then joined the Civil Litigation Section at the Department of Justice Canada, where she conducted litigation in a wide range of areas of the law, including administrative, corrections, immigration, tort, customs and tariff classification, labour and human rights law. From 2016 to 2018, she represented Canada before the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 

In 2018, Ms. Churchill-Joly joined Chivers Carpenter Lawyers law firm in Edmonton, Alberta, where she specialized in labour law and human rights, representing union and individual clients. In recent years, she has acted as lawyer and negotiator for the Department of Justice Canada’s Indigenous Justice Revitalization Section where she has led negotiations with Indigenous communities to establish Administration of Justice Agreements. 

Ms. Churchill-Joly has worked for various human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the Legal Resources Foundation in Kenya and the Legal Resources Center in South Africa, on issues of equal access to education and gender rights. She also clerked for the Honourable Chief Justice Marc Noël (retired) at Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal. She is currently undertaking research in international human rights law at Oxford University.  

Colleen Harrington

Ms. Colleen Harrington was appointed as a full-time member to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in January 2018 and reappointed for a term of five years on March 25, 2022. Ms. 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 field of human rights. 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 acted as 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.

John Hutchings 

John Hutchings was appointed as a full-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in March 2024 for a five-year term, effective April 15, 2024.

Mr. Hutchings is a bilingual lawyer and adjudicator with experience in human rights, migration, constitutional law and administrative law. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from McGill University and joint degrees in civil law (B.C.L.) and common law (LL.B.) from McGill University’s Faculty of Law. He is a member of the Ontario Bar. 

Mr. Hutchings worked in asylum and migration policy at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada before studying law. He articled with the Constitutional Law Branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General before joining the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) as counsel in 2016. His roles at the IRB included training and supporting decision-makers, deciding claims for refugee protection as a member of the Refugee Protection Division (RPD), providing policy advice to two RPD Deputy Chairpersons and acting as general counsel within the IRB’s Legal Services. As Assistant Deputy Chairperson beginning in 2021, Mr. Hutchings led teams of decision-makers across Canada in advancing quality adjudication and proportionate case management.

Mr. Hutchings has presented to the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants. He was an advisory board member and guest lecturer for the Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law at Queen’s University. Internationally, he provided training to the International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges, presented at regional asylum capacity-building forums and co-moderated a multilateral dialogue on asylum with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Anthony Morgan

Anthony Morgan was appointed as a full-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in May 2024 for a five-year term.

Mr. Morgan has an extensive background working on issues of anti-racism, Indigenous rights and equality rights. He attended the University of Toronto, graduating with an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Ethics, Society & Law, before attending law school at McGill University, where he earned a Bachelor in Civil Law (B.C.L.) and a Bachelor in Common Law (LL.B.) degree in 2012. He articled at the Occupational Health and Safety Tribunal Canada and has been a member of the Ontario Bar since 2013. In 2023, he completed a Master of Science in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford, Faculty of Law.

From 2018 to 2024, Mr. Morgan worked at the City of Toronto, where he led social policy initiatives focused on advancing social justice and human rights and addressing systemic anti-Black racism. During this time, he also served as co-chair of the Anti-Racism Advisory Panel of the Toronto Police Services Board from 2021 to 2023. Prior to joining the City of Toronto, he practiced in the areas of civil, constitutional and criminal state accountability litigation on behalf of individuals, families and First Nations governments. Before entering private practice, Mr. Morgan was a legal clinic lawyer serving Ontario’s Black communities.

Mr. Morgan has participated in proceedings before the Supreme Court of Canada, Ontario’s Divisional Court, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. As a lawyer and community member, he has worked with various community organizations and boards focused on increasing community safety and well-being for marginalized and racialized community members. Through varied experience, Mr. Morgan has developed an expertise in matters of Canadian and international human rights, racial discrimination and justice policy.

Gary Stein 

Gary Stein was appointed as a full-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in February 2024 for a five-year term. 

Mr. Stein has a bachelor’s degree in political science from McGill University, and a joint Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School and Master of Environmental Studies from York University. He became a member of the Ontario Bar in 1990 and practised law from 1990 to 2022.  

From 1990 to 1995, Mr. Stein worked at a Toronto law firm, conducting civil litigation and advising corporations about not-for-profit housing development and construction. In 1995, he joined South Ottawa Community Legal Services as a staff lawyer, representing low-income and vulnerable clients in housing law, federal and provincial income support appeals, and many disability-related issues. In 2005, he became the organization’s executive director. In 2017, after leading the amalgamation of Ottawa’s community legal clinics, Mr. Stein became the executive director of Community Legal Services of Ottawa. 

As a community legal clinic lawyer, Mr. Stein worked collaboratively with professionals, community members, frontline service agencies, law students, funding organizations and political representatives. He developed law student placement programs to train future advocates; led experiential training workshops for lawyers and paralegals; and developed a unique legal information capacity-building project for frontline community workers. 

Mr. Stein has sat on boards of directors of not-for-profit organizations, including a charitable organization that operates in French. He is currently a board member of Multifaith Housing Initiative in Ottawa. 

Kathryn Raymond, K.C.

Ms. Kathryn Raymond was appointed a part-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in 2019 for a five-year term. On May 27, 2021, she was appointed a full-time member of the Tribunal for a period of five years.

Ms. Raymond received a Bachelor of Laws 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 member, 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 member and as an arbitrator of insurance and education-related disputes. Ms. Raymond is an inducted member of the Canadian Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

In 2019, Ms. Raymond 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.

Catherine Fagan

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

Ms. Catherine Fagan graduated from McGill University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Common Law degree. She is a Founding Partner of Nogala 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 focusses on self-governance, constitutional law, environmental law and community 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 is the Vice-President and past 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.

Marie Langlois

Ms. Marie Langlois was appointed as a part-time member to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in July 2018 for a term of 5 years and reappointed in 2023 for a second five-year term.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resources Management, Ms. Langlois worked in human resources management, particularly in labour relations and negotiating collective agreements in Quebec’s public service for several years. She was admitted to the Barreau du Québec in 1996 and went on to work at the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal as legal counsel.

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]). At the same time, she worked as coordinating administrative judge for the region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the Outaouais. In 2015, Ms. Langlois undertook a consultation tour that focussed on the duty of reasonable accommodation under the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, speaking to her administrative judge colleagues. She also provides mentoring and training to new judges.

Kirsten Mercer

Ms. Kirsten Mercer was appointed as a part-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in January 2017. Ms. Mercer was reappointed as a part-time member for a term of five years, effective March 25, 2022.

Ms. 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 practiced human rights and employment law at a leading labour law firm in Toronto and previously practiced litigation at a large firm 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.

Naseem Mithoowani

Ms. Naseem Mithoowani was appointed as a part-time member to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in April 2021 for a five-year term.

Ms. Mithoowani received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and French literature from McMaster University and a 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 at a law firm focussed in that same area. In her role, Ms. Mithoowani appears before the Federal Court of Canada and represents individuals at the Immigration and Refugee Board. 

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 presented at a number of conferences, including the Law Society of Ontario, the Canadian Bar Association and the Munk School of Global Affairs.  

Jennifer Orange

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

Ms. 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 Bachelor of Arts 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 Toronto Metropolitan University. She has also taught courses relating to human rights law at the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario law faculties.

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

Jay Sengupta

Jay Sengupta was appointed as a part-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for a five-year term, effective June 17, 2024. 

Ms. Sengupta is a mediator and adjudicator who has been a neutral for over 15 years. In addition to her private dispute resolution practice, she holds appointments with the Law Society Tribunal, the Public Service Grievance Board, the Canada Industrial Relations Board, the NWT Human Rights Adjudication Panel and the inaugural discipline committee of the College of Patent Agents & Trademark Agents. Ms. Sengupta began her career as a lawyer in Ontario’s community legal clinic movement. Prior to launching her private mediation and arbitration practice, she served as a full-time vice-chair with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for 10 years, where she was cross appointed to the Child and Family Services Review Board, the Custody Review Board and the Special Education Tribunal.

Daniel Simonian

Mr. Daniel Simonian was appointed as a part-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in April 2021 for a five-year term.

Mr. Simonian studied law at the Université de Montréal, where he was honoured with the Judge Herbert Marx award for excellence in legal writing. Mr. Simonian completed his common law training at the University of Toronto and then obtained a Master in Constitutional Law (LL.M.) from Osgoode Hall Law School. 

After graduating, Mr. 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 Barreau du Québec and Ontario Bars, Mr. Simonian worked in private practice as well as for several community legal clinics, providing legal assistance to low-income Ontario residents. He worked at Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) where he managed and developed national large-scale access to justice programs. Mr. 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, Mr. Simonian also taught refugee law at the University of British Columbia and volunteered as an executive member of the Ontario Bar Association.

In 2019, Mr. Simonian joined the Immigration and Refugee Board as a full-time member, where he renders decisions.

Paul Singh

Paul Singh was appointed to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in April 2021.

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 2018 to 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 2021.

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. 

Mr. Singh has served on the board of directors of the BC Council of Administrative Tribunals and is on the Canadian Bar Association’s national executive committee on dispute resolution. He also serves as a roster mediator for the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada.