Nomination a La Cour Supreme Du Canada: L'honorable Juge Thomas A

Nomination 'a la Cour supreme du Canada: L'honorable Juge Thomas A. Cromwell Supreme Court of Canada Appointment: The Honourable Justice Thomas A. Cromwell

Les juges ie ]a Cour supreme du Canada et les The judges of the Supreme Court of Canada and membres de la Facult6 de droit de l'Universit6 the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law have d'Ottawa entretiennent depuis fort longtemps always maintained close personal and profes- d~jA d'6troites relations. La tradition veut que sional ties. It is tradition to hold a welcoming chaque nouveau juge nomm A.la Cour supreme reception for each newly appointed judge to the du Canada soit invit6 A une reception pour Supreme Court of Canada. The Chiel Justice c61bbrer sa nomination. La juge en chef et les and Puisne Judges of the Supreme Court of 2009 CanLIIDocs 61 juges pun~s de la Cour supreme du Canada, les Canada, Deans of the Common Law and Civil doyens des Sections de common law et de droit Law Sections, professors and students are invit- civil de mme que les professeurs et les 6tudi- ed to attend. ants sont toutes et tous convi~s Ay assister. In keeping with this tradition, the Faculty of law Le 26 mars 2009, la Facult6 a de nouveau per- celebrated on March 26, 2009 the appointment pttu6 la tradition, en offrant une r~ception pour of Justice Thomas A. Cromwell, which was [a nomination du juge Thomas A. Cromwell, announced December 22, 2008. As in previous annonce le 22 d~cembre 2008. Tout comme ceremonies for Justices Deschamps, Fish, lors des cArtmonies d'accueil des juges Abella, Charron and Rothstein, the Right Deschamps, Fish, Abella, Charron et Rothstein, Honourable Madam Chief justice Beverley la tr~s honorable juge en chef Beverley McLachlin made introductory remarks and McLachlin a salu6 le ju~e Cromwell. <(Cette offered her own words of welcome to Justice ceremonie vient completer les marques d'ac- Cromwell: "This ceremony completes his wel- cueil au sein de votre nouvelle communaut6 come to his new legal community. We on the juridique. Nous, A la Cour, valorisons les liens Court value our close ties with the University of 6troits que nous entretenons avec la Facult6 de Ottawa's Faculty of Law." droit de l'Universit6 d'Ottawa. >>I Here are the full remarks of Dean Feldthusen, Voici la version int~grale des allocutions the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice prononc~es par le doyen Feldthusen, la trhs Beverley McLachlin, Dean Grammond, and the honorable juge en chef Beverley McLachlin, et Honourable JusticeThomas A. Cromwell.* le doven Grammond, suivies du discours livr6 par I honorable juge Thomas A. Cromwell le jour de cette rception.*

* Les droits d'auteur appartiennent A leurs auteurs et auteures respectifs et les observations ont 6t6 publies avec leur approbation. / Copyright for the remarks is held by the respective authors and the remarks have been printed with the permission of their authors. I Notre traduction. 302 OTTAWA LAW REVIEW REVUE DE DROIT D'OTTAWA 40:2 40:2

BRUCE FELDTHUSEN, DOYEN DE LA SECTION DE COMMON LAW DEAN OF THE COMMON LAW SECTION

J'aimerais souhaiter la bienvenue A toutes les personnes pr6sentes ici ce soir, dont les membres de la magistrature, nos anciens et anciennes, ainsi que les membres du Barreau du Haut-Canada. I especially wish to welcome the Right Honourable Chief Justice McLachlin, and the Honourable Mr. Justice Binnie, Mr. Justice LeBel, Mr. Justice Fish, Madam Justice Abella, and Madam Justice Charron. Last but not least, I wish to extend a very warm welcome to our special guest this evening, the Honourable Mr. Justice Cromwell. Conform~ment A la tradition, les Sections de droit civil et de common law de

la Facult6 de droit de l'Universit6 d'Ottawa sont heureuses d'accueillir chaque juge 2009 CanLIIDocs 61 nouvellement nomm6 A la Cour supreme du Canada. The tradition began with the appointment with Madam Justice Deschamps, and since then we have been able to welcome Mr. Justice Fish, Madam Justice Abella, one of our former professors, Madam Justice Charron and, most recently, Mr. Justice Rothstein. J'ai le plaisir d'inviter la tr~s honorable Beverley McLachlin, juge en chef du Canada, A nous dire quelques mots. The Chief Justice has attended each one of these welcome events. We appreciate as always her support for legal education, and also her support for her own colleagues on the bench. Madame la juge en chef, la parole est a vous.

BEVERLEY MCLACHLIN, C.P., LA TRI S HONORABLE JUGE EN CHEF P.C., THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MADAM CHIEF JUSTICE

Chers collkgues, Dean Feldhusen, le doyen par interim Professeur Grammond 2, Members of Academe-Faculty, Students, ladies and gentlemen. II me fait grand plaisir d' tre ici ce soir A l'Universit6 d'Ottawa. The pleasure is doubled by the nature of the occasion-a welcome for the latest addition to the Supreme Court of Canada, JusticeThomas Cromwell. Je serai brave. Je n'ai que deux messages A communiquer. The first message-ma premire tche-is to thank the University of Ottawa for holding this reception to welcome Justice Cromwell to the broader legal and aca- demic milieu of Ottawa. As you know-some of you were there-we formally wel-

2 Le professeur Grammond a pris officiellement les tonctions de doven de la Section de droit civil le I er juillet 2009. / Professor Sebastien Grammond officially took on the title of Dean of the Civil Law Section on July I, 2009. NOMINATION A LA COUR SUPREME DU CANADA: L'HONORABLE JUGE THOMAS A. CROMWELL 303 SUPREME COURT OF CANADA APPOINTMENT: THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE THOMAS A. CROMWELL comed Justice Cromwell to the Court in a ceremony in February. This ceremony completes his welcome to his new legal community. We on the Court value our close ties with the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law. Cette r6ception t~moigne des relations 6troites entre la communaut6 universitaire et la Cour supreme et ses juges. Ma deuxibme tiche-my second task-is to say something nice about our hon- oured guest. In justice Cromwell's case, this is not a difficult thing to do. It is an open secret that this jurist is every Chief Justice's dream-a scholar of the law; a writer of distinction; and-last but not least-a diplomat of consummate skill. Someone described him as the best Christmas present the Prime Minister could have given the Court and Canadian justice. I concur. C'est un grand plaisir de vous presenter l'honorable Thomas Cromwell, juge de la Cour supreme du Canada. 2009 CanLIIDocs 61

SItBASTIEN GRAMMOND, DOYEN DE LA SECTION DE DROIT CIVIL DEAN OF THE CIVIL LAW SECTION

Quelles sont les qualit&s n&cessaires pour qu'une personne soit nomm6e juge? I1y a deux mani~res de r~pondre A cette question. On peut d'abord donner une reponse abstraite : il faut que la personne soit intelligente, ait une bonne connaissance du droit, 6crive bien, et ainsi de suite. Mais on peut aussi r~pondre en donnant un exemple, un modle. Etjustement, les diff~rentes facettes de la carribre du jugeThomas Cromwell donnent un modble de la personne qu'on souhaite voir acceder A la magistrature supreme. D'abord un modble dans la sphere universitaire. Premibrement comme 6tudi- ant : apr~s un premier dipl6me en musique, il a obtenu un LL.B. de l'Universit6 Queen's et une maitrise en droit de l'Universit6 d'Oxford-d'assez bonnes institutions, vous en conviendrez. 11 a 6galement laiss6 sa marque comme professeur, A l'Universit6 Dalhousie, oiJ il a enseign6 pendant plus de quinze ans et o6 il a reu, entre autres, le prix d'excellence en enseignement. Ses publications portent sur des domaines aussi varies que la procedure civile, la preuve ou le droit constitutionnel et ont souvent 6t6 cities par les tribunaux. Le juge Cromwell est 6galement un modle dans la sphere de la pratique du droit. En parallkle avec sa carrikre de professeur, il a 6t6 avocat en pratique prive, arbitre en droit du travail et membre de la Commission des relations de travail de la Nouvelle-ltcosse. I1a ensuite rempli les fonctions d'adjoint ex~cutifjuridique aupr~s du juge en chef Antonio Lamer de la Cour supreme. C'est d'ailleurs IAque je rai connu et que j'ai pu apprcier sa gentillesse, son ouverture d'esprit, sa rigueur intellectuelle et son sens de l'organisation, toutes des qualit&s essentielles pour faire un bon juge. Peu de temps apr~s, il a 6t6 nomm6 juge A la Cour d'appel de la Nouvelle-Ecosse et la communaut6 juridique a pu appr~cier dans ses jugements la clart6 sur le plan de la redaction et l'6quilibre sur le plan de la substance. 304 OTTAWA LAW REVIEW REVUE DE DROIT D'OTTAWA 40:2 40:2

Le juge Cromwell est 6galement un module de service A la communaut6. II n'a jamais h~sit6 A donner de son temps 1 divers comit~s ou organismes afin de contribuer A l'amhlioration du droit et des institutions judiciaires. Je n'en ferai pas ]a liste; je me contenterai de souligner une contribution qui int~resse particulirement le monde universitaire : il a 6t6 president de l'Association canadienne des professeurs de droit. Je dois donc dire que mes collkgues et moi, on se sent bien repr~sent~s Ala Cour supreme ! With all these qualities, it is no surprise thatThomas Cromwell's appointment to the Supreme Court was greeted with unanimous praise and approval. But there's one additional reason for celebration. I, for one, have been an active advocate of the idea that Supreme Court judges should be bilingual.There are many good reasons for this, not least of which from the perspective of the French-speaking lawyer who argues a case before the Court. While the debate still rages as to whether this should be a

statutory requirement or just an aspect of competence, Francophones across the coun- 2009 CanLIIDocs 61 try were relieved to learn of Justice Cromwell's appointment, as his French abilities are beyond any doubt. In closing, I should say that the University of Ottawa has been more success- ful than the current federal government in establishing a tradition concerning newly appointed Supreme Court judges. Since the year 2000, we have held ceremonies such as this one for every new judge. In contrast, the government wavered in its will to establish a tradition of publicly interviewing new judges before a committee of Members of Parliament and television cameras. Justice Cromwell must have been very disappointed that the show was cancelled, as he probably spent long hours rehearsing. So we are happy to offer him an occasion to give us a glimpse of what he would have told the Members of Parliament, but, of course, in a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

THOMAS A. CROMWELL, L'HONORABLE JUGE THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE

Monsieur le doyen, Monsieur le doyen par int6rim, Madame la juge en chef, membres de la Cour, distingu6s invit6s, chers coll~gues et amis: Je vous suis tr~s reconnaissant de votre invitation A participer Acette r6ception et de votre accueil chaleureux A la Facult6 de droit. C'est aussi un grand plaisir per- sonnel d'avoir la possibilit6 d'ftre ici en compagnie de deux coll~gues de longue date. Le doyen Feldthusen et moi sommes collkgues depuis longtemps et le doyen par interim, Professeur Grammond, 6tait auxiliaire juridique du regrett6 juge en chef Lamer quand j'6tais adjoint ex~cutifjuridique Ala Cour. Je souhaite continuer et renforcer les liens professionnels et amicaux qui exis- tent depuis Iongtemps entre mon pr~d~cesseur, l'honorable Michel Bastarache et cette Facult6. Ce soir est assur~ment un bon debut de rapport chaleureux. En tant qu'ancien professeur de droit, c'est toujours pour moi un grand plaisir de passer quelque temps parmi des 6tudiants en droit et c'est toujours avec gratitude que j'accepte une telle invitation. NOMINATION A LA COUR SUPREME DU CANADA: IHONORABLE JUGE THOMAS A. CROMWELL 305 SUPREME COURT OF CANADA APPOINTMENT: THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE THOMAS A. CROMWELL

I perhaps have the most in common with the law students who are here-I remember H. L. Mencken writing that a judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers. I would like to offer you three thoughts this evening, very briefly, and I have decided to address these remarks primarily to the law students who are here. The first concerns the importance, indeed the centrality, of legal scholarship to our system of justice. I know that sometimes law students and also practitioners and judges become impatient with and even dismissive of writing that seems to them to be too "theoretical" for their immediate needs. When I was a law teacher, a popular joke among students was to describe two law professors watching an experimental aircraft take off and fly perfectly. One said to the other: "Sure, it works in practice, but does it work in theory?"

I urge you not to take this attitude.The tools you will acquire through a rigor- 2009 CanLIIDocs 61 ous, scholarly approach to legal education will allow you to contribute much more to the development of our law and our legal systems than would a narrow, vocational training. As an appellate judge for nearly 12 years, I can assure you how important sound scholarship is to helping the courts to allow the law to evolve in principled and appropriate ways. Cette facult6, bien stir, a contribu6 A la doctrine juridique d'une fa~on remar- quable. Je n'essaierai pas de vous en dresser le catalogue. Mais je peux vous dire tout simplement que votre doyen et votre doyen par interim sont d'excellents exemples d'rudits dont la contribution i la doctrine est de premier ordre. Profitez des nom- breuses possibilit6s qui s'offrent vous ici i la Facult de droit. My second thought is to urge you to build your career around your passions. Find what about the law truly engages and excites you and head in those directions. If you do that, much of what you will do will not really seem like work.You will know the feeling of wondering why anyone would pay you to have so much fun. I worry that, especially in tough economic times and alarming student debt- loads, students may be tempted to take paths that are really not right for them. The prestigious jobs, the goals and ambitions that others have and may expect you to have may not be the right ones for you. The law, of course, is, in a lot of ways, a tough business.You will face your share, and more, of difficult clients, uncooperative adversaries, unenlightened bosses, perhaps even a cantankerous judge or two. But you will overcome all of these challenges if you have a true passion for your career. This is too tough a business to be in if you don't truly love it. MWme si vous avez cette passion pour le droit et pour votre carrire, n'oubliez jamais qu'il faut 6galement trouver un 6quilibre dans la vie. La famille, les loisirs, la communaut6 sont tous des aspects d'une vie complkte. Une carri~re, mme si c'est une carri~re que vous aimez, n'est qu'un 6l6ment de la vie. Finally, I would like to remind you what a high honour and a deep responsibility it is to advise and represent other people.You will be called on to assist people in some of the most important and sometimes the most difficult moments of their lives. 306 OTTAWA LAW REVIEW REVUE DE DROIT D'OTTAWA 40:2 40:2

For them, there are no little cases, there are no routine matters undeserving of your best efforts. Despite all of the petty annoyances, you must never lose sight of the importance of your work for the lives of others. What seems very straightforward, even routine, to you may be mysterious and perhaps even scary to some of your clients. Try to put yourselves in their place and deal with them the way you hope another lawyer would deal with your family or loved ones if they faced the same issues. Dans notre syst~me, les avocats doivent ftre ind~pendants et courageux; toujours pr~ts A donner voix aux plaintes et aux revendications du public, ce qui est un des fondements de la primaut6 du droit. Mais cette responsabilit6 envers les clients n'est qu'un aspect de la responsabilit6 professionnelle d'un avocat ou d'une avocate. I1faut penser 6galement Ala responsabilit6 face A l'administration de la justice.

Even in the heat of advancing your client's interests with all of your might, as 2009 CanLIIDocs 61 you should, never lose sight of your responsibility to your profession and to the administration of justice. I cannot put this better than did Justice Middleton-one of the most beloved judges in the history of Ontario-while addressing newly admitted barristers in January of 1927. He said in part, "[Riemember that you are officers of the Court-a part of the great machine designed to secure the administration of justice; and, while you seek to win, remember that victory must be obtained by the Sword of the Knight and not by the Dagger of the Assassin."' I urge you to benefit all that you can from the rigorous scholarly training you will receive here, to pursue the career in law about which you feel passionate, and never to lose sight of the privilege that you will have and responsibility that you will take on as a lawyer. Je vous remercie encore une fois de votre chaleureux accueil et vous souhaite une excellente r~ussite aux examens. Je suis tr~s content de noter mes propres examens et de ne pas devoir 6valuer les v6tres!

3 Reprinted in John D. Arnup, Aiddlcton:The Beloved Judge (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988) at 139-40. NOMINATION A LA COUR SUPRtME DU CANADA: L'HONORABLE JUGE THOMAS A. CROMWELL 307 SUPREME COURT OF CANADA APPOINTMENT: THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE THOMAS A. CROMWELL 2009 CanLIIDocs 61 2009 CanLIIDocs 61