Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A p r I L 2 0 1 5 27 O On a cold February morning in Ottawa, the sidewalks and grounds in front of the Supreme Court of Canada building are almost empty. A single person is directing pedestrians who do walk by, to stop temporarily. Not for security reasons, but so a colleague can shovel snow and ice off the roof of a government building next door. at very Canadian inconvenience is one of the only signs of activity outside the courthouse. Inside the building, it is also relatively quiet, as the court was not sitting. e judges are working at cra ing upcoming decisions and preparing to interview applicants the following week for coveted law clerk positions. e relative calm of the morning is a break in what has been a very busy and sometimes controversial past few years at the Supreme Court. During that period, the court has struck down some of the federal government's crime legislation and ruled against its attempt to unilater- ally amend the terms of senators. It quashed some of the country's prostitution laws, struck down the ban on as- sisted suicide, ruled that Marc Nadon was not eligible to be appointed to its bench, and concluded there is a constitu- tional right to strike. Sitting with her colleagues in all of those cases was Jus- tice Andromache Karakatsanis, who has already carved out a profi le at the court in the three-and-half-years since she was elevated from the Ontario Court of Appeal. In ad- dition to her role in the majority decisions that received the most media attention, she has been the author of a num- ber of major rulings that will impact the legal community and the administration of justice. ey include decisions designed to streamline civil litigation, protect the privacy rights of sexual assault victims, and remove a potential obstacle for individuals who are suing police over alleged misconduct. She has not hesitated to write strong dissents in areas as diverse as competition law to warning against allowing the state broad powers that might infringe the privacy rights of people under police investigation. Fighting a cold on that winter morning, Karakatsanis is still gracious and welcoming inside her Supreme Court offi ce, with its traditional large wooden desk and view of the Ottawa River. From former colleagues to security staff at the court, there is a consistent reference to her warmth of personality. In one of the only interviews she has granted as a mem- ber of the judiciary, Karakatsanis spoke to Canadian Law- yer on a broad range of topics, from her early days in the law, to a distinguished career as a senior civil servant, and now as a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. Fluent in English, French, and Greek, Karakatsanis is fi rst-generation Canadian. Her parents came from Greece and ultimately ran a restaurant in Toronto. Karakatsanis at- tended the University of Toronto and then Osgoode Hall Law School. "We were expected to pick a profession. at was one of the advantages of being in an immigrant family. I had no choice. I was going to go to university, I was going to pick a profession, and I was going to work hard. I am very grateful to my parents," she says. Extremely proud of her Greek heritage, she says it helped her as a lawyer and as a judge. "It made me more sensitive to diff erent cultures, diff erent perspectives." Her brother and sister are both engineers, but she picked law because of an interest in the arts and English literature. "Law seemed like a more natural fi t for me. I have to say, I wasn't passionate about the law in law school. at developed over time." Yet, she was selected to clerk at the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1981, with judges that included the legendary G. Arthur Martin. "He was a giant in the criminal law. He was just so incredibly dedicated," she says. Another mentor was Peter Cory, who went on to serve as a Supreme Court justice. ey "taught us the need for civility and humanity when you are standing in judgment of others," says Karakatsanis. From 1983 to 1987, she was in private practice primar- ily in the areas of criminal and civil litigation. In 1987, she was asked by the provincial Liberal government to serve on the Liquor Licence Board of Ontario, which was the beginning of a 15-year-career in the civil service. As the chairwoman of the LLBO for seven years, she was tasked with streamlining the regulations involving liquor sales in the province and overseeing a number of competing inter- ests. "I discovered that the policy aspect and the manage- ment aspect were fascinating. It was administrative law in action." One of the more minor decisions, which endeared her to Toronto residents, was permitting bars to stay open an extra hour when the Blue Jays won the World Series in 1993. "I did" give approval, she laughs, when asked about the decision. e next stop in her career was the Ministry of the Attorney General. A er two years as assistant deputy AG, she was named deputy attorney general of Ontario in 1997. One of the most challenging Ontario ministries to run, she oversaw more than a 1,000 lawyers as well as the administration of the courts. "It was a huge job," she admits. Many of the issues at the time, such as more electronic fi ling and reducing backlogs in courts, are still front and centre today. "One of the challenges in the ad- ministration of justice is we have so many independent participants. How do you make change? I think you make change one step at a time, you make change by working with the diff erent partners," she suggests. In 2000, she was asked to serve as secretary to the cabi- net and clerk of the executive council. It was the top civil service job in the province. Former colleagues of Karakatsanis in the provincial COLIN rOWE

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