July 6, 2026
Ottawa, Ontario
Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, announced the appointment of the Honourable Alan S. Diner, a judge of the Federal Court, as the new Chief Justice of the Federal Court.
Chief Justice Diner replaces the Honourable Paul S. Crampton, who retired effective October 31, 2025.
Although I do not expect the local bars in the Town of Almonte to be afloat with celebration of the appointment of Alan S. Diner as the new Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada – the celebrity may be insufficient to compete with the likes of James Naismith, James Mackintosh Bell or R. Tait McKenzie – there is nonetheless a recognizable connection between the Honourable Alan S. Diner and the Town of Almonte.
Diner was formerly associated with Mr. Justice James Knatchbull Hugessen also of the Federal Court. Hugessen (and his wife Mary of the Rosamond woollen company family) lived in Almonte. By entire coincidence in 1994 while picnicking with Janet Rintoul, she and I met Alan on a run along the Ottawa River. We invited him to Almonte for dinner that evening; and thereafter began a recurring social connection (both here in Almonte and also in Ottawa and Florida) with him, and subsequently with his wife Lisa and their beautiful children Zanthy, Justin, Theo and Aaron. Interestingly James Mackintosh Bell’s mother was also of the Rosamond family. By further coincidence Diner and his family reside in Thornhill, Ontario which was the home of Dr. Frank and Winnifred Glassow and their son Nicholas who was my colleague from St. Andrew’s College. As a boy I frequently visited the Glassow family in Thornhill. Forgive me for adding the additional providence that, when Dr. Glassow arrived in Canada as a young physician, he first worked for Dr. Johnson in the nearby Town of Carleton Place. Mrs. Annie Johnson was one of my first clients here; and, I ended buying her Heintzman grand piano (which in turn reminded me of a familial descendent Charlie Heintzman, also a colleague at St. Andrew’s College).
From the seemingly modest rural beginnings in Almonte have sprung numerous serendipitous associations, including for example Leonard Lee of Lee Valley Tools. When I met Lee in Almonte he remarked that my father was his former commanding officer. Perhaps it was this and similar relationships which spirited my own.