Lawyers & Judges

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Lawyers & Judges         
Rosalie Silberman Abella. Born July 1, 1946 She completed her education as a lawyer, a career that would see her appointed as a Justice, Ontario Court of Appeal and later a Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada. A Human Rights activist, she was also the Commissioner of the Royal Commission on Equity in Employment.
Louise Arbour Born Montreal, Quebec February 10, 1947. She received her B.A. and her Law degree from McGill University and was admitted to the Bar in Ontario in 1977. She began her career as a research officer for the Law Reform Commission and was a professor and Associate Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School from 1974-1987. She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1987 and the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 1990. She served as president of a commission of Inquiry to investigate and report on the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario  and in 1996 she was Chief Prosecutor of the War Crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia. In 1999 she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2004 she was appointed to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights.
Marjorie Bowker

Born Prince Edward Island 1906, Alberta. Died August  2006. She graduated from the University of Alberta in 1939 and began her legal career. In 1966 she was appointed Alberta’s first woman family Court judge, a position she worked hard at for almost 20 years. Married and with a family of three children herself she had a strong sense of family.  A staunch defender of the rights of women prisoners she was paramount in the establishment of the Edmonton Institution for Women which was set up after the decision to close the notorious Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario. The Free Trade Debate of 1988 caught her full attention and she created a 60 page document criticism of the agreement itself. The published book became a best seller. The retired judge saw a chance to be a catalyst in this national dialogue and she took her ideas to the readers. She and her husband Wilber, former Dean of the Law School, University of Alberta, were inducted into the Order of Canada in 1990.  In 1995 she was honoured as one of seven pioneer women judges of Canada by the Canadian Judicial Council. Source: Marjorie Bowker, 90, judge, best selling author. Toronto Star, September 5, 2006.

Louise Frechette the first Canadian woman ambassador to the United Nations 1991.
Paule Gauthier Born Joliette, Quebec November 3, 1943. She studied for her law degree at Laval University in Quebec City in 1969. A senior partner in the law firm of Desjardins Ducharme Stein Monast and she specializes in corporate and commercial law. In 1984 she was appointed to the Security Intelligence Review Committee which overseas the Canadian Intelligence Security Service (CSIS). She was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in accordance with the Official Secrets Act. She served as chair of SIR from 1996-2005. She has served on numerous corporate and government boards an was the first woman to become president of the Canadian Bar Association (1992--93) In 1990 she was made and Officer of the Order of Canada and in 2001 she was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.
Ruth Gorman Born Calgary, Alberta February 14, 1914. Died December 10, 2002. She studied law and was called to the bar in 1940. Throughout her professional legal life she willing provided volunteer services for aboriginal issues, the disabled and others who were in need. She also had an interest in publishing and became publisher and editor of the Golden West Magazine. She has been Calgary's Woman of the Year (1960), Citizen of the Year (1961) and was awarded the Alberta Woman of the Century Medal the same year, 1968 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Along with the 1988 Legal Humanities Award she received the 1991 Lifetime Achievement Award form the Calgary Access Awareness. She was also extremely proud to have been awarded the title of Queen Mother of the Cree and Princess of the Stony Indian Tribe of Alberta.
Roberta Jamieson

Roberta Louise Jamieson Born 1953. Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, Ontario. A Mohawk and member of the Bear Clan, as a youth she loved to read because even then she knew that education was important. At first, she wanted to be a medical doctor and even enrolled in medical school at McGill University, Montreal. She quickly became intrigued with politics and decided that to solve issued for her people she should attend law school at the University of Western Ontario, London. Graduating in 1976 she was the first aboriginal woman to become a lawyer in Canada! She was named to head the first Ontario Indian Commission and in 1982 she was the first non-parliamentarian to join a House of Commons Committee, the Special Task Force on Indian Self Government. December 1986 she began a ten year position as Ontario Ombudsman, the first woman and the first aboriginal person to hold this post. Roberta was elected Chief of Six Nations of the Grand River in November 2001, again the first woman to hold this post. She also ran in 2003 for National Chief but was defeated by Phil Fontaine. She has over the years also participated on several boards and committees at various local, provincial and national levels. She is the founding chair of the ImagineNative , an international media arts festival showcasing work of world indigenous artists. Married with one daughter she is also proud to be a grandmother. Life has brought her many awards for her achievements to date, including multiple honorary doctorate, a membership in the Order of Canada, 1994 and the National Aboriginal Award in 1998.  Source: Roberta Jamieson: Chief Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Contemporary Canadian Biographies. Thompson Gale, August 2003. (Accessed online June 2008.)

Helen Alice Kinnear . Born Cayuga, Ontario May 6, 1894. She graduated and was called to the Ontario bar, to become a lawyer, in 1920. She practiced law in Port Colborne, Ontario until 1943, when she was appointed county-court judge for Haldimand County. In 1947 she was appointed judge of the Juvenile Court. She was the first woman in the British Commonwealth to be created a Kings Counsel and the first in the Commonwealth appointed to a county-court bench and the first lawyer in Canada to appear as counsel before the Supreme Court in Canada in 1935. In 1993 the Canadian Post Office issued a commemorative stamp to honour the achievements of this woman Lawyer.
Helen Gregory MacGill Born Hamilton, Ontario January 7,1864. Died February 27, 1947. She was the first woman to graduate from Trinity College of the University of Toronto. When she settled with her young family in British Columbia she was the first woman of the region to be appointed a judge of the juvenile Court, a post she held for 23 years.
D. J. McCawley Born February 2, 1954. This lawyer and judge has the title of the Right Honourable Madame Justice. A mother of 7 children she was a nominee for Woman of Distinction Award in 1990. 
Beverly McLachlin Born Pincher Creek, Alberta September 7, 1943. She practiced law in Edmonton, Alberta and in British Columbia before she took up a teaching position in law at the University of British Columbia. In 1981 she was appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia and by 1988 was the Chief Justice in British Columbia. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed her to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1989. On January 7, 2000 she was the first woman to become Chief Justice of Canada.
Maureen Anne McTeer. Born Ottawa, Ontario February 27, 1952. She obtained her B.A. and married a young lawyer politician, Joe Clark. She would balance her continued education  to become a lawyer with the challenge of having a daughter.  She is an author and journalist. She has her an interest in politics and has served on numerous committees and even ran (unsuccessfully ) for a seat in Parliament. She is also known for her involvement in charity work. She is the National spokesperson for the Osteoporosis Society of Canada.
Marion Ironquil Meadmore appointed to the Manitoba Barr she as the first aboriginal  woman lawyer.
Clara Brett Martin. Born Toronto, Ontario circa 1874. Died October 30, 1923. After receiving an honours BA from Trinity College in Toronto in 1888, The Law Society of Upper Canada refused to accept her as a student. Enlisting the help of notable and forceful people of the day, including, Dr Emily Stowe, Ontario Premier Oliver Mowat and Lady Aberdeen, to force legislation that would allow women as barristers. In 1897 she became the first woman lawyer in the British Empire. Even though she was licensed she did not often enter court. Her presence in the court room caused too much of a ruckus. It would not be until the middle of the century that women would be able to comfortably represent their profession in the courts.
Emily Murphy. Born Cookstown, Ontario 1868. Died March 14,1933. Emily was journalist who would write about the adventures of the famous "Janey Canuck" character. She became the first woman in the British Empire to become a Magistrate when she was appointed a police magistrate for Edmonton, Alberta in 1916. She would go on to also be provincial magistrate for Alberta. A supporter of some 20 volunteer organizations she was the first national president of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada. She is also a member of the Famous Five who would be part of the Persons Case in 1929 which would have women declared "persons" in the eye of the law. If you watch the "Historical Moments" which appear on Canadian TV be sure to watch for her story.
Sandra Omik

Born Pond Inlet, Nunavut.  In 2002 she was named by Maclean’s Magazine as an outstanding young Canadian to watch. In June 2005 she graduated from Akitsiraq Law School, a unique school ste up to teach Inuit lawyers that provided a Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of Victoria. A busy mother of two would complete her required articling with Justice Canada. She was the former Chief Commissioner of the Nunavut Law Review Commission which helped her determination to become a lawyer. She began her legal career working with the Nunavut Crown Prosecutor’s Office. Source: Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective.  Herstory 2007: the Canadian Women’s Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006)  pg. 6..
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond

Born Niagara Falls, Ontario. February 15, 1963 Mary Ellen has studied and holds degrees from several institutions including Carleton University, The University of Strasbourg, Osgoode Hall Law School, Cambridge University and Harvard University! Her legal career has included being legal counsel for the Native Women's Association of Canada, a professor of law at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, and a member of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Married with a daughter she has also found time to be on the editorial board of several law journals including the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law. As well as being an editor she has written numerous articles and book chapters. Source: Canadian Who’s Who  1997(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, online) (Accessed January 2001)

Bertha Wilson. (née Wernham). Born Kirkaldy, Scotland September 18, 1923. She and her husband immigrated to Canada in 1957. She was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1975 where she became known for her “imaginative and humane decisions”. (Canadian Encyclopedia) She was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada
Mary Wong. Born Hamilton, Ontario. In 1943 she and her husband opened a family restaurant in Hamilton, Ontario. She soon became involved with her home community as principal of the National Chinese School and as a Chinese interpreter in the city courts. She served as a member of the Canadian consultative council on Multiculturalism. In 1977 Mary Wong was the first Canadian of Chinese descent to be appointed as a Citizenship Court Judge. She retired from the "bench" ( as a judge) in 1985. She is an appointee to the Hamilton [Ontario] Gallery of Distinction.
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