Kamloops judge Len Marchand Jr. appointed to B.C. Supreme Court

KAMLOOPS – Judge Len Marchand Jr. has been appointed to the Supreme Court of B.C. after serving as a Provincial Court judge in Kamloops for about four years.

Marchand will be replacing Kelowna Supreme Court judge Alison Beames, who elected to become a supernumerary judge last year, which means she's preparing for retirement, according to a federal government media release.

Marchand is an Okanagan Indian Band member who grew up in Kamloops. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor of science in chemical engineering in 1986.

He graduated law school from the University of Victoria in 1996 and practiced at Fulton and Company in Kamloops until 2013 when he was appointed as a provincial court judge.

The federal government says in its announcement that Marchand helped negotiate and was signatory to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement in 2005, the largest class action settlement in the country's history.

Marchand has also presided in First Nations court in Kamloops, where healing plans are developed for offenders, with input from elders.

He is the son of Len Marchand Sr., a former Liberal MP and senator who was the first status Indian elected to Parliament. Marchand Sr. died at the age of 82 last year.

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