News Release

FREDERICTON (GNB) – Nathalie Chiasson of Shippagan has been appointed the new chair of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission for a three-year term.

“Throughout her career, Ms. Chiasson has shown passion and commitment,” said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Francine Landry, who is also minister responsible for the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission. “She will be an effective leader for the commission and will continue to work toward advancing equality in New Brunswick.”

Chiasson has been a lawyer in private practice for 24 years. She is a member of the Law Society of New Brunswick, the Canadian Bar Association, and the Association des juristes plaideurs de l’Atlantique. She practises mainly in insurance law, civil litigation, and medical malpractice. She also presided over the administrative tribunal for the review of the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security in Gloucester County from 2001 to 2007, and sat on the board of directors of the New Brunswick Law Society as a representative of Gloucester County from 2007 to 2010.

Within the framework of her duties and her volunteer activities, Chiasson participated in many committees in her community. She represented the north of the province and was a member of the executive of the Professional Shellfish Growers Association of New Brunswick; was vice-president of the École Marie-Esther Parent School Support Committee in Shippagan; and vice-president of the Shippagan Chamber of Commerce. Chiasson was also a member of the working group tasked with reviewing the New Brunswick Insurance Act as well as a member of the working group on the translation of decisions of the Court of Queen’s Bench.

“I am very pleased to join the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission and I am determined to uphold the rights enshrined in the New Brunswick Human Rights Act for all residents of the province,” said Chiasson.

Chiasson will replace Randy Dickinson, who has chaired the commission since 2010. She will chair her first meeting on Nov. 13 in Fredericton.

“I thank outgoing chair Randy Dickinson for the many years he has devoted to the Human Rights Commission,” said Landry.

More information on the commission is available online.