Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday the appointment of Michelle O’Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada.
She will become the first Indigenous person to sit on Canada’s highest court.
O’Bonsawin is an Abenaki from Odanak. She is Franco-Ontarian and fully bilingual, according to a press release announcing the appointment.
She has served as a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice since 2017. O’Bonsawin also holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Ottawa.
In her application questionnairemade available by the Department of Justice, O’Bonsawin described how his experience as an Indigenous person in Canada shaped his life and legal career.
“I believe that my experience as a First Nations Francophone woman, parent, lawyer, scholar and judge gives me a lived understanding and insight into the diversity of Canada because me and my life experience are part of that diversity,” she said. said.
O’Bonsawin also highlighted his interest in mental health issues and spoke of a long-term mission to ensure the stigma surrounding mental health “is limited and hopefully one day eliminated.”
“It is crucial that our legal system recognizes and supports efforts to educate the general public about mental illness through judicial behavior and understanding as set out in judgments,” she said.
O’Bonsawin said her most significant contribution to Canadian law and the pursuit of justice “is my effort to assist all involved in the justice and mental health system with a particular focus on Indigenous peoples.” in order to have an inclusive and compassionate justice system for First Nations, Inuit and Métis. »
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Murray Sinclair, a former senator and chair of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said O’Bonsawin’s deep knowledge of Indigenous issues will give him an important role on the tribunal.
“The court is strengthened and our decisions are better when there are diverse perspectives where they are needed most,” Sinclair said in a press release. “This is especially true when it comes to the issues facing Canada’s long journey of reconciliation with First Nations, Métis and Inuit.”
Sinclair said he advised O’Bonsawin during the application process.
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) also welcomed the nomination and said O’Bonsawin would help “balance” the court.
“Canada’s highest court has always lacked a person to interpret Canadian laws from an Indigenous lens – but not anymore,” CAP National Chief Elmer St. Pierre said in a press release.
Trudeau said O’Bonsawin’s appointment was the result of an open, nonpartisan selection process.
“I am confident that Judge O’Bonsawin will bring invaluable knowledge and contributions to our nation’s highest court,” he said in a press release.
O’Bonsawin’s appointment is the historic second consecutive appointment to the Supreme Court. Last year, Mahmud Jamal became the first person of color appointed to court.
O’Bonsawin was the first Indigenous woman to serve on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa. She was nominated for the position in 2017 by former federal justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould.
She has also been a member of numerous legal and advocacy groups, including Native Legal Services at the University of Ottawa Legal Aid Clinic and the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, and as partner judge with Afghanistan Women Judges with the International Association of Women Judges.
O’Bonsawin was born in Hanmer, Ontario, a small French-speaking town north of Sudbury, Ontario.
The Prime Minister’s Office said O’Bonsawin is studying Abenaki but does not yet consider herself a fluent speaker.
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