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 J U L Y 2 0 1 6 17 Moving the new judge up to the top job in 2018 would also avoid appointing a chief justice from outside the court, which would be a bold move even for a Trudeau. Appointing an outsider would be too, too, American. How audacious will Justin Trudeau be? The relatively new government already seems frustrated and a little weary, in need of a fillip. Criticism mounts — arms to Saudi Arabia, pipe- lines, bill C-14, Elbowgate, etc. Is the bloom off the once ever-present rose? Perhaps it's time for a dramatic, sunny ways, change-affirming, modern move. It's time — some would say, past time — to give an aboriginal a top job. No, not governor general (David John- ston's term comes to an end in Septem- ber, 2017) — that would be a nice, but empty, gesture. No, something much meatier than governor general: chief justice. One of the great advantages of appointing an aboriginal jurist as chief justice is that it would trump all other considerations. No one would complain that he or she wasn't from Newfound- land, or inquire how well the new judge spoke French. That would seem petty, to say the least. But who? Names mentioned in the past include Murray Sinclair, former Manitoba judge, chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and a senator since March (my guess is that he'd ditch the Senate in a heartbeat), and Harry LaForme, now a supernumerary Ontario Court of Appeal judge. Other aboriginal candidates have been trotted out periodically, but all of these are the usual suspects, now long in the tooth. We want someone new, fresh, and rela- tively young. The problem is, as many have pointed out, that successive gov- ernments have been strikingly hesitant to appoint aboriginals as judges. The pool is small indeed. I was discussing this problem with a smart, young lawyer of my acquaintance, and he said, "Oh, that's easy, what about Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond?" My reaction was probably the same as yours. Who is that? I checked on Turpel-Lafond — easy to do these days, thank you, Google — and was duly impressed. She's 53 years old and Cree. She's a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, has a master's degree in international law from the University of Cambridge, and a doctorate of law from Harvard. She has been a Provincial Court judge in Saskatchewan and is just finish- ing up two terms promoting children's rights as British Columbia's Representa- tive for Children and Youth, an independ- ent officer of the B.C. Legislature. She was a tenured law professor at Dalhousie Uni- versity in Nova Scotia (good geography.) She's been widely described as "tough as nails." In giving her an honorary degree in 2014 (she has several others), McGill University described her as "one of Can- ada's most distinguished jurists of aborig- inal descent." All perfect. And, in case you missed it, she's a woman! I just hope I haven't prejudiced Tur- pel-Lafond's chances by mentioning her name. Philip Slayton's book on the Supreme Court, Mighty Judgment, was published in 2011. 11th Annual Canadian Lawyer InHouse General Counsel Roundtable Visit canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse to see our video coverage of these topics: Managing in-house, online June 27 Managing external counsel, online July 4 ůƚĞƌŶĂƟǀĞĨĞĞĂƌƌĂŶŐĞŵĞŶƚƐ͕online July 11 Handling RFPs, online July 28 Sponsored by: ǁǁǁ͘ǁĞŝƌĨŽƵůĚƐ͘ĐŽŵ

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