TOP TEN: Liberal Party donors now serving on Alberta's highest courts

CALGARY — The Western Standard has conducted a review of Elections Canada’s Federal Electoral Contributions Database to determine which current judges from Alberta's top courts have contributed the most donations to the Liberal Party of Canada.The results below provide a snapshot of publicly disclosed political contributions made before all of the judges were appointed to the bench.Readers should note that federal disclosure requirements have changed over time.Currently, the largest annual donation an individual can make to a Canadian political party is $1,775.Only contributions above the reporting threshold — typically $200 in recent years — are publicly disclosed.As a result, the figures presented in this list may not represent an individual's complete donation history, as smaller contributions may not have been recorded in publicly available databases.Without further ado, let's begin:.10. Justice Johanna C. PriceTotal contributions — $2,808.20.Justice Johanna C. Price is tenth on our list of Liberal donors, with $2,808.20 in contributions between 2015 and 2019 prior to becoming a judge.Price — who was appointed to the Court of King's Bench by the Liberal government in 2019 — is a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation and has been involved with indigenous legal initiatives and various reconciliation efforts over the years.One of Price's rulings drew criticism in 2023 when she ruled that a woman convicted of assaulting two pre-teen children under her care over a three-and-a-half-year period using a hockey stick would be granted a conditional discharge.The Alberta Court of Appeal later overturned the decision, finding that Price had "erroneously mischaracterized certain facts as mitigating" and that there "was no basis for the sentencing judge's finding that the offender was remorseful." 9. Justice Johnna C. KubikTotal contributions — $6,860.00.Ninth on our list is Justice Johnna C. Kubik, who donated $6,860.00 to the Liberal Party before her appointment to the Court of King's Bench in 2017 by former Liberal Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould.A notable ruling of Kubik's came in 2018 when she dismissed an application for an injunction to halt the operation of Alberta's Bill 24, which was introduced by the NDP government in 2017 and prohibited schools from notifying parents if their child joined a gay-straight alliance (GSA).She found the applicants had not demonstrated irreparable harm and rejected claims that GSAs exposed students to inappropriate materials.Kubik ruled the potential harm to vulnerable students outweighed any temporary restriction on parental access to information while the constitutional challenge proceeded.8. Justice Kevin FethTotal contributions — $8,861.51.Justice Kevin Feth donated $8,861.51 to the Liberals from 2004 to 2015 before being promoted to the judiciary.A former president of the Law Society of Alberta, Feth was appointed to the Court of King's Bench in 2019 by Arif Virani, then Liberal Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, before being elevated to the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2023.In a 2021 decision, Feth ruled that the City of Edmonton did not deprive members of the Alberta March for Life Association (AMLA) of any meaningful freedom of expression when it denied a request to colour the High Level Bridge with white, blue, and pink lights to coincide with the AMLA's May 2019 rally.Feth dismissed the AMLA's application, ruling that the bridge lighting program was the City's own communication platform and not a public forum for individual expression.7. Justice James T. NeilsonTotal contributions — $10,351.73.Justice James T. Neilson is seventh on the list, having donated $10.351.73 from 2004 to 2017 prior to his 2018 Court of King's Bench appointment by the Liberal government.In the 2025 Youngchief v. Canada case, Neilson certified a class-action lawsuit against the federal government, a Catholic diocese, and a school board over allegations of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of indigenous children at Notre Dame School in Bonnyville, Alberta, between 1966 and 1974.Neilson found there were common questions that could be addressed for all former students at once, including whether the defendants owed the students a duty of care and failed to meet that obligation.He did, however, refuse to certify the claim against the Alberta government, ruling that provincial legislation in effect at the time placed responsibility for the school's day-to-day operations with the local school board rather than the province. 6. Justice Kent J. TeskeyTotal contributions — $10,958.55*.At number six is Justice Kent J. Teskey, who contributed $6,188.80 to the Liberals from 2012 to 2019 prior to his appointment to the Court of King's Bench in 2023 by Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government.His wife Joylyn also donated $4,769.75 to the Liberals between 2018 and 2025, totalling $10,958.55 between the couple. The Edmonton native — who has previously served as the president of the Law Society of Alberta — attracted attention in 2024 after ordering the Alberta government to release thousands of pages of internal documents related to the UCP government's decision to rescind coal-mining protections in the Rockies.During the case, Teskey also warned the government that courts would resist granting requests for judicial review if they were seen as delay tactics intended to frustrate the release of information. 5. Justice Robert W. ArmstrongTotal contributions — $13,089.75.Justice Robert W. Armstrong donated $13,089.75 to the Liberal party before his appointment to Alberta's Court of King's Bench in 2021 by then Liberal Minister of Justice David Lametti. This includes multiple contributions between 2014 and 2020 that were close to the maximum amount permitted under federal election law.One notable case Armstrong presided over was Vaillancourt v. Carter, in which he found that a debtor had used a corporation, partnership, and trust as personal bank accounts to avoid paying a $1.6-million judgment.He ruled the entities' assets could be garnished, adding that because the debtor treated them like his personal bank account, “so too will the law treat them like a bank account.”The Alberta Court of Appeal later upheld his decision. 4. Justice Grant S. DunlopTotal contributions — $18,320.92.Alberta Court of King's Bench Justice Grant S. Dunlop is the fourth-largest Liberal donor, having contributed $18,320.92 from 2010 to 2017.Dunlop was appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench in 2017 by then-federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould under the Justin Trudeau government.In a 2022 case, he ruled that the Alberta government’s decision to lift the school mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic was “unreasonable” because it was made by a cabinet committee rather than the Chief Medical Officer of Health.“I find that the Order was based on an unreasonable interpretation of the Public Health Act: that the Act left final authority for public health orders to elected officials," Dunlop wrote.Dunlop also declared that a statement from Education Minister Adriana LaGrange ordering schools not to bring in mask mandates didn’t actually prevent boards from implementing their own mask rules. 3. Justice Michel H. BourqueTotal contributions — $24,860.82*.At number three is New Brunswick native Justice Michel H. Bourque, who contributed $13,933.56 from 2011 to 2021.His spouse Bryan Clarke also gave the Liberal Party $10,927.26 between 2015 and 2018 for a grand total of $24,860.82 between the couple. He was appointed to the Court of King's Bench of Alberta on Dec. 20, 2021, by then Liberal Justice Minister David Lametti.He is also known for his volunteer work in support of Calgary’s "LGBTQ2S+" communities.Bourque was a presiding justice in the high-profile case involving former Calgary councillor Druh Farrell and the Terrigno family, ruling that the lawsuit could continue even after Farrell left office.The Alberta Court of Appeal later upheld that decision. 2. Justice Kent H. DavidsonTotal contributions — $27,728.82*.Chief Justice Kent H. Davidson, who now leads Alberta's Court of King's Bench, donated $23,307.00 to the Liberals from 2005 to 2018 prior to his 2019 appointment to the bench by the Trudeau government. His wife Cari, also contributed $4,421.82 to the Liberal party between 2007 and 2017 for a total of $27,728.82 between the Davidsons. In 2024, he was elevated to Chief Justice, where he now oversees Alberta’s superior trial court.Before becoming a judge, he was national chair of Miller Thomson LLP and previously served two terms as a St. Albert city councillor from 1992 to 1995 and from 1998 to 2001.Earlier this year, Davidson and Alberta’s two other chief justices released a rare public statement criticizing Premier Danielle Smith after comments she made wishing she could “direct” judges when questioned on her radio show about bail laws. 1. Justice Kevin P. FeehanTotal contributions — $51,143.28*.The number one Liberal donor, is Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Kevin P. Feehan who contributed $34,161.42 from 2005 to 2016.Hi wife, Dr. Mona-Lee Feehan, who teaches theology at St. Joseph's College at the University of Alberta, also contributed $16,981,86 to the Liberal Party between 2005 and 2021 for a grand total of $51,143.28 between the two. Feehan currently serves on the Alberta Court of Appeal in Edmonton after being promoted to the position in January 2019 by the federal Liberal government. His career has included extensive involvement with Catholic educational and charitable organizations.He came to national attention in 2018 during the sexual assault case R. v. Adams, when he lifted a publication ban protecting the complainant’s identity following an acquittal.The Supreme Court of Canada later unanimously overturned the decision and restored the ban, ruling that protecting complainants outweighed the concerns raised about court openness.

TOP TEN: Liberal Party donors now serving on Alberta's highest courts

Related Stories

Parti Québécois leader defends Alberta independence referendum, criticizes Carney's comments

HANNAFORD: The duty here is to consult, not to ask permission

WAGNER: Let Albertans decide — democracy, not courts, should determine Alberta’s future

New Brunswick judge gives reduced sentence to man to prevent his deportation