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Download PDF Version of Article 80 THE STORIED THIRD BRANCH Vol. 104 No. 2 BEVERLEY McLACHLIN THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHIEF JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT OF CANADA (retired) PHOTO BY ROY GROGAN, COURTESY SUPREME COURT OF CANADA SUPREME COURT COURTESY GROGAN, ROY BY PHOTO A Remarkable Journey to the ‘Centre Chair’ Beverley McLachlin, widely regarded Legacy of a Supreme Court Chief Justice December 2017, she was the longest as one of the best legal minds to take a earlier in the summer. serving chief justice in the Court’s his- seat on the Supreme Court of Canada, In her customary self-effacing style, tory (17 years, 341 days). stood alone on stage at the Winspear McLachlin shared her thoughts about But it was McLachlin’s little story Centre in Sidney, a quiet seaside town growing up in the 1940s and ’50s on about gardening that offered insight on Vancouver Island. a ranch nestled in the shadow of the into her personality and her remarks It was September 29, 2019, and the Rocky Mountains of Southern Alberta, about the job of judging that pulled her (now retired) Right Honourable Chief and the judicial career she had never audience forward in their seats. Justice of Canada was in Sidney to pro- sought. Over an unprecedented nine- One day, seeking solitude in the gar- mote her crime novel, Full Disclosure, year period, one judicial appointment den of her Ottawa home with trowel and her memoir, Truth Be Told: My after another led McLachlin directly in hand, clothes a little soiled from Journey Through Life and the Law, both to the Supreme Court of Canada. Even planting lily of the valley, she heard a released in 2019. It was a crowded pub- then, she had not reached her peak. voice. The housekeeper from the res- lication year. Canadian academics Ian After 11 years as a puisne (associate) idence next door introduced herself, Greene and Peter McCormick had also jurist, she became the first female chief mistaking her for the gardener. She published Beverley McLachlin, The justice of Canada. When she retired in wanted to know whether the chief jus- Judicature 81 tice of Canada really lived here. “Yes,” ilies struggling to make McLachlin replied. In a conspiratorial ends meet living on prai- What you have to tone, the woman pressed on — “What’s rie and range lands in try to do as a judge, she like?” McLachlin, replied with a frozen winters and hot whether you’re on slight smile: “She’s nice. She likes gar- summers. She made Charter (of Rights dening, but she isn’t very good at it.” enduring friendships with Always gracious, but perhaps not a smart, forward-thinking and Freedoms) gardener, McLachlin has been described students from the nearby issues or any other in similar ways by journalists, academ- Piikani First Nation issue, is, by an act ics, colleagues, and perfect strangers Reserve, a Treaty Seven — grounded, unaffected, witty, in touch member-nation of the of the imagination, with her roots and, of course, in com- Blackfoot Confederacy. put yourself in mand of a razor-sharp intellect. They gave her insight the shoes of the McLachlin has frequently explained into indigenous rights different parties, her approach to the adjudication issues that would sur- “ process as she did in an interview pub- face decades later in the and think about lished by the National Post newspaper Supreme Court of Canada. how it looks from in 2015, and repeated elsewhere: Along with academic What you have to try to do as a achievement and an their perspective, judge, whether you’re on Charter astounding work ethic, and really think (of Rights and Freedoms) issues those early years on the about it, not just or any other issue, is, by an act of ranch fostered an endur- give it lip service.” the imagination, put yourself in ing independence and the shoes of the different parties, pragmatism that con- and think about how it looks from tributed to her success. If their perspective, and really think McLachlin had a flat tire on a remote lor’s (honours) degree in philosophy about it, not just give it lip service. country road, she would be more likely and languages in 1965, she was poised to pop the trunk and grab a tire iron to begin the master’s degree in phi- McLachlin was putting herself in than call for help. losophy when she suddenly faced an the shoes of others long before she McLachlin described herself as an unexpected decision. reached the judiciary. She grew up in “ordinary girl” during her high school Her future spouse, Roderick (Rory) modest circumstances as Beverley years. But it soon became apparent McLachlin, a biologist, raised another Gietz, the eldest of five children raised that there was nothing ordinary about prospect — “Have you thought about on a remote ranch near Pincher Creek the girl from Pincher Creek. becoming . a lawyer?” Her logical, — 135 miles south of Calgary and about After finishing high school at the top analytical mind was certainly suited to 85 miles north of the Alberta-Montana of her class, she travelled north to the it. The question prompted discussions border. University of Alberta in Edmonton. She about the similarities between law and Devouring books on a wide range planned to earn a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Both had a good deal to do of subjects, roaming the rugged land- philosophy and languages, as well as with moral questions about respon- scape on horseback thinking about a master’s degree and a PhD, and then sibility and issues linked to authority what she had read, pulling her weight secure a position as a university pro- and power, guilt and innocence, conse- with endless chores on the ranch, fessor. Some of that happened. But the quences and accountability. boarding in town so she could finish twists and turns of life change even McLachlin did not leap at the idea. high school in a classroom rather than well-crafted plans often unexpectedly, Instead, she sent a letter to the law by correspondence — all helped instill quickly, and dramatically. school at the University of Alberta strong personal values. In McLachlin’s case, those twists with a question — “What is involved in Those years also taught lessons and turns led her away from a long the study of law?” She received a reply about the people around her — fam- academic career. Awarded a bache- in less than a week. Wilbur Bowker, u 82 THE STORIED THIRD BRANCH Vol. 104 No. 2 She soon found a law degree and the master’s early for a law faculty-sponsored in philosophy conferred at the reception at UBC to discover another herself caught up same convocation. It was 1968. early attendee — the Chief Justice of in the full range of Beverley Gietz and Rory the British Columbia Supreme Court, cases heard in the McLachlin had married the Allan McEachern. After chatting for a summer before she started time, the Chief Justice asked her a ques- appellate court as third year. With law degree in tion that sounded familiar — “Have you well as something hand, the bias against women thought about becoming . a judge?” new — interpreting in the legal profession — espe- Her answer: “Never.” Chief Justice cially married ones — suddenly McEachern’s question amounted to the the Canadian loomed large. One law firm “tap on the shoulder” then used to iden- Charter of Rights didn’t even offer articles of tify candidates for judicial appointment. and Freedoms. clerkship — the mandatory Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and The Charter prerequisite to Bar admission Federal Justice Minister Jean Chrétien “ — to married women. Another (later Prime Minister) were alert to the became a key part firm hired her, but she had to need for more women in the federal of the Canadian share an office with a first- judiciary. She accepted an appointment constitution in 1982 year female associate. Male to the intermediate-level Vancouver articling students had their County Court. She was 37 years old. and guarantees own offices. After just five months, Chrétien called fundamental McLachlin was admitted to again with an elevation in mind. freedoms and the Alberta Bar in 1969, the McLachlin was sworn in to the Supreme same year Rory earned his Court of British Columbia in September democratic rights master of science degree. Two 1981 as a superior court trial judge. She as well as mobility, and a half years later, they was now sitting on a constitutionally equality, and left Edmonton and moved endowed court with both inherent and to Fort St. John, in Northern statutory jurisdiction. language rights. British Columbia, where Four years later in 1985, she achieved Rory engaged in forestry another elevation — she became the field work. A few years later, first woman appointed to the British they moved to Vancouver so Columbia Court of Appeal, the prov- dean of law, a luminary in Canadian McLachlin could find more challeng- ince’s highest court. She soon found legal circles, and obviously aware of ing legal work and Rory could pursue herself caught up in the full range of her undergraduate standing, did not his PhD. She joined the leading law cases heard in the appellate court as answer her question. Instead, he sent firm, Bull Housser & Tupper, and in well as something new — interpret- a congratulatory message. She would 1974, McLachlin accepted a position ing the Canadian Charter of Rights and soon answer the question herself — at the University of British Columbia Freedoms. The Charter became a key Dean Bowker admitted her as one of law school. Her dream of academia was part of the Canadian constitution in only seven women law students in a finally fulfilled.
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