COLIN McKINNON
Ontario Superior Court Justice at The Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, Dec. 15, 2016
“I’ve been a judge now for 21 years, believe it or not. It seems like yesterday I was appointed. I was in private practice for 25 years before that, so it’s been a long career. Essentially what the Superior Court does is all three lines of work: we do family law, we do criminal law and we do civil litigation. It’s a court of the general jurisdiction; you can bring anything to that court and it will be heard. Habeas corpus: Let the body be heard. My own history is I do primarily serious criminal cases — homicides and the like. And lengthy homicides. I did one that lasted nine months — the Morgan homicide — with a jury. I find those really compelling and interesting, and important.
“My plan was to be an actor. My first love was acting, and I had been accepted into the National Theatre School. But my mother sat me down and said, ‘Listen. You like the good life too much. If you’re going to be an actor, you’re going to starve to death serving tables. Go be a lawyer. Ninetynine out of 100 lawyers succeed.
One out of 100 actors succeeds. Do your acting in front of juries.’
“So I became a Crown counsel first of all, then defence counsel. Then I started doing a lot of civil litigation and eventually became a bencher of the law society — those are the elected governors who regulate our profession. And in that capacity we did discipline cases. And doing discipline cases, I began to write opinions on the conduct of lawyers who had gone awry. And that’s what gave me the thirst to be a judge. Up until then I hadn’t given judging any thought, but I love the freedom of being able to write without being obligated to a client. As a lawyer, you’ve got to present your client’s case, even if you know it’s very iffy. But as a judge you do what you feel is right — within the confines of the law. You have all this freedom just to do the right thing. And I found that so attractive that I decided to apply to the court and was eventually appointed to the court. And I’ve loved every minute of it ever since.
“I have a little saying before I go into court — every single time I go into court, whether it’s on a family law case conference or a civil law motion or a murder case. Before I go into court I say to myself, ‘Thank you, God, for the privilege of being a judge, and may I remember that I, too, am being judged.’ That is what keeps me grounded, that is what keeps me — I hope — humble in court, and listening.
“And a courtroom is the greatest parade of human nature on the planet. Every single day it’s a different play. Sometimes the actors are bad and the play is good, and sometimes the play is bad and the actors are good. But there are those magical days when the play is great and the actors are great, and you get to write the review. It’s terrific.”