Beverley McLachlin
|
The Right Honourable Chief Justice of Canada, Beverley McLachlin, P.C. |
Beverley McLachlin,
PC,
LL.D,
M.A.,
LL.B.,
BA (born
September 7,
1943) is the
Chief Justice of
Canada, the first woman to hold that position.
Born in
Pincher Creek, Alberta, she received a
BA and a
MA in
philosophy and an
LLB (winning the gold medal as top student) from the
University of Alberta. She was called to the Bar of Alberta in 1969 and to the Bar of British Columbia in 1971. She practised law from 1969 until 1975. From 1974 until 1981 she was an Associate Professor and Professor with
tenure at the
University of British Columbia.
She has one son from her first
marriage to Roderick McLachlin. Mr. McLachlin died in 1988. She remarried in 1992 to Frank McArdle.
In 1981 she was appointed to the County Court of
Vancouver and then to the Supreme Court of
British Columbia. In 1985 she was appointed to the British Columbia Court of Appeal and in 1988 was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. She was appointed to the
Supreme Court of Canada on
March 30,
1989 and was made Chief Justice of Canada on
January 7,
2000.
Upon being sworn in to the
Supreme Court of Canada, she also became a
Deputy Governor General of Canada together with the other justices of the Supreme Court.
When
Governor General Adrienne Clarkson was hospitalized for a
cardiac pacemaker operation on
8 July 2005, Madam Justice McLachlin served as the Queen's Administrator and performed the duties of the Governor General, including giving
royal assent to the
Civil Marriage Act, effectively legalizing
same-sex marriage in Canada. She relinquished that task when the Governor General returned to good health in late July.
She is the Chairperson of the Canadian Judicial Council, Advisory Council of the
Order of Canada, and Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute. She is a Member of the
Queen's Privy Council for Canada.
She has been awarded over 21 honorary Doctor of Laws degrees.
During her early years on the Supreme Court, she was characterized as a judge with libertarian leaning after her dissent in
R. v. Keegstra, finding that the hate-speech criminal offences were unconstitutional, and her judgment in
R. v. Zundel where she struck down the criminal offence of speading false news. This was also seen to an extent in her decision of
R. v. Sharpe where she upheld the child pornography criminal provisions, but limited it by excluding imaginative works that are for private use.
Among her more controversial decisions was her ruling in
R. v. Seaboyer where she struck down the
rape shield law as it violated accused rapists their right to a fair trial. Critics who saw McLachlin as a ground breaker for the advancement of women, believed she had betrayed the cause.
As Chief Justice she has taken great efforts to inform the public of the nature of the judiciary and to defend its process.
List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (McLachlin Court)*
Supreme Court of Canada - Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin*
The Canadian Encyclopedia - Beverley McLachlin
