The Honourable George Valin was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 1990. He retired in 2019 following 28 years of judicial service during which he presided over criminal and civil, jury and non-jury trials in all eight judicial regions of the province. In civil matters, he settled and tried cases covering numerous areas, including professional negligence, insurance claims, personal injury, wills interpretation, commercial disputes, breach of contract, wrongful dismissal, real property, boundary disputes, construction, family law, and estate litigation.

He sat regularly on the Divisional Court, hearing administrative and civil appeals. In 2011, the Chief Justice of Ontario appointed him to chair the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission, responsible for the redistribution of federal electoral boundaries in the Province of Ontario following the 2011 census.

Prior to his appointment to the Bench, he practiced in North Bay, dealing with similar litigious matters, together with mortgage remedies, minor sport, municipal, and education litigation.

During his judicial career, George earned a reputation for fairness and success in conducting effective judicial pre-trials in civil matters, using evaluative and facilitative techniques, depending on the wishes of counsel and their clients. He is known for his ability to grasp and focus on issues quickly, to treat parties, witnesses, and counsel politely, and to render decisions expeditiously. He has particular interest and expertise in Early Neutral Evaluation.

Since his retirement from the bench in 2019, George has used those skills successfully in a number of mediations and arbitrations and, on one occasion, acting as integrity commissioner in the investigation of a complaint against a member of a municipal council and a member of a local board.

He looks forward to assisting parties to reach reasonable, fair, and cost-effective solutions to their disputes.