OTTAWA—Supreme Court of Canada Justice Richard Wagner once joked that, as a middle child, “I learned to achieve consensus early.”

That sense of humour and pursuit of co-operation plus a clear, persistent campaign by Quebec’s legal and political community that stressed it was the province’s turn may have secured Wagner the plum job of chief justice of Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday he would elevate the Montreal-born Wagner, 60, a former commercial and civil litigator and judge from Quebec’s trial and appeal courts, to replace Beverley McLachlin, who retires Friday after 28 years on the top court, 18 as chief justice.

“I have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead the highest court of Canada, an institution with a long and respected history of judicial independence and excellence,” Trudeau said in announcing Wagner’s promotion. “The judiciary, the legal profession and all Canadians will be well served by his dedication to upholding the laws and Constitution upon which this country is founded.”

In naming Wagner, Trudeau bypassed one tradition — of appointing the most senior judge on the court, Rosalie Abella — in favour of another: alternating between a common law judge from English-speaking Canada and a Quebec judge trained in civil law. It’s a practice that hasn’t always been followed, including by Trudeau’s own father when he was prime minister.

But Quebec’s legal and political community had launched a full-court press to ensure a Quebec judge would replace McLachlin. The Bar of Montreal had written Trudeau and the provincial legislature passed a unanimous resolution supporting a Quebec chief justice, urging him to follow the practice.

Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould admitted to reporters that it “certainly was something that the prime minister considered in making this appointment,” but she stressed Wagner’s personal qualifications too.

“He has the integrity, the wisdom and the collegial spirit and co-operation that a chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada needs,” she said.

By promoting Wagner, Trudeau set aside his goal to promote women to senior posts whenever possible. Abella, who has 13 years’ experience on the top court, has been internationally recognized for her intellectual heft, passion for human rights and commitment to equality law. At 71, she is due to retire in 2021, by which time choosing the next chief might no longer be up to Trudeau. So opting for Wagner now represents a safe, longer term appointment.

The job comes with a $30,000 raise — Wagner will earn $405,400 in his new post — and an opportunity to shape the court and influence the direction of the Canadian judiciary for the next 15 years and beyond.

He will head the Canadian Judicial Council, the governing body for federal judges, and the board of the National Judicial Institute, which leads judicial education. He will also chair the advisory council on Order of Canada appointments and could occasionally step in as deputy governor-general.

Osgoode Hall law dean Lorne Sossin doesn’t expect Wagner’s appointment to be a “radical departure kind of moment for the court.”

“If anything I think it will be a chance to see what can gel among people on the court who really don’t seem as if they have an obvious amount of chemistry in common. So the real test is almost more as a builder of esprit de corps.”

Still, it’s unclear just what kind of mark Wagner will leave.

He is a judicial centrist who often sides with majority opinions.

An analysis of the high court’s rulings last year published on a legal blog, thecourt.ca, shows Wagner participated in 52 of 55 judgments handed down in 2016, and sided with a majority or a unanimous ruling in 48 of those, or 92 per cent.

He describes himself as a champion of an impartial and non-politicized judiciary, and said in 2012 he viewed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a living, evolving document, a view that underpins small-l liberal sentiment in this country.

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He joined unanimous court rulings that struck down much of Stephen Harper’s legislative and policy agenda, including Senate reform, and a bid to put an Ottawa-based federal judge into a Quebec seat on the court — even though it was Harper who appointed him to the Supreme Court.

Yet Wagner has shown deference to the role of legislators in other instances, issuing a stinging dissent with his former colleague Marshall Rothstein when the majority upheld the right of Saskatchewan’s public service workers to strike. He also dissented when a majority struck down the Harper government’s mandatory minimum sentences for illegal firearms possession and repeat drug trafficking charges.

Sossin is watching to see how Wagner rules in a pair of appeals that deal with discrimination claims based on sexual orientation. Trinity Western University wants the court to order Ontario and B.C. law societies to license its graduates despite the professional bodies’ objections to the Christian university’s requirement that students not engage in sexual activity outside of straight marriage.

Wagner decided to exclude all LGBTQ groups from participating in the hearings, a move that was reversed by order of McLachlin.

Sossin said it “will be a real test of where some of the new justices find themselves” and a test of Wagner as well. Equality cases are hardest for centrists because of the polarizing nature of such cases, he said.

Wagner will be sworn in at Rideau Hall on Monday to take on a job that McLachlin often joked is one that gave her the reins of power, only to discover that are no horses attached.

That’s because the chief justice is first among equals in a court full of strong-willed and opinionated jurists who take pride in their independence — not just from government, but from bosses of any kind.

Within minutes of the announcement, emails of delight about his promotion flew around Quebec law firms and offices.

“It was exactly 10:03,” said Denis Ferland, a former partner of Wagner’s in private practice when they were at Lavery de Billy. “I got an email and I am very, very happy.”

“Richard is very mindful of the people he works with, so I think he will be very good for the court, for the lawyers and … those citizens who actually have to live with the rulings thereafter,” Ferland said. He praised the prime minister for sticking to tradition, and Ferland dismissed the notion that any political desire to keep peace in Quebec as the hurly-burly of an election year approaches played a part.

“I don’t think it was done for political reasons. But we’re going through, as a country, all kinds of changes and the judicial system is one of the foundations which is left in our society and you don’t want to change everything all at once,” he said. “I think it is a good tradition. But over and above the tradition, I think Richard is a very good candidate.”

Wagner first became a trial judge of Quebec’s Superior Court in 2004 under the Liberal government of Paul Martin, and appointed to the top court by Harper’s Conservative government five years ago.

At that time, some speculated that Wagner’s political leanings were Conservative. But Wagner has not displayed particular political leanings or ideology on the court.

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