Canadian Lawyer

26 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m I t is more than nine months into Richard Wagner's term as the 18th chief justice of Canada, and in the judge's reading room of the Supreme Court of Canada building in Ottawa on a warm fall afternoon, he is reflecting on the influence of family on his life. "There's no doubt that my father's career has influenced me," Wagner says of his upbringing in Montreal. "And the environment in which I grew up had a strong impact on me." His father, Claude Wagner, was a lawyer, then a law professor, an MLA in Quebec and the province's first justice minister and later an MP and sena- tor. Although he died at just 54 years of age, Wagner says, "His career had lots of impact on mine. "I discovered at a very early age the notion of public service." How accessibility has defined Chief Justice Richard Wagner's career By Elizabeth Raymer OPENING THE SUPREME COURT C R O S S E X A M I N E D As well, Wagner says, "My father was very generous, never mean, always noble. This was the right way of doing things. You have your own opinion, but there's no need to be mean or ungenerous." Those values of civility, collegiality and public service will serve the new chief justice well at the helm of the Supreme Court of Canada and Cana- dian Judicial Council, say those who know him. "I think . . . a chief justice can be a very impor- tant contributor and leader in a number of areas, and in particular for encouraging a collegial environment in the court," says Frank Iacobucci, a Supreme Court of Canada justice from 1991 to 2004 and now a senior counsel at Torys LLP in Toronto. Mutual respect and collaborative effort are required on the court, and the chief justice plays an important role in that, he says. "From all accounts I have heard, and from what I personally know of [Wagner], he's very good at interpersonal relations, and that aspect of his talent is very important. He has the makeup to emphasize the importance of COLIN ROWE

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