Trudeau nominates Michelle O’Bonsawin, first Indigenous justice on Supreme Court
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nominated Ontario judge Michelle O’Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday, making her the first Indigenous person poised to sit on the country’s highest bench.
O’Bonsawin comes to the court after spending five years as a judge at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa, where she was also the first Indigenous woman to hold that position.
Before that, she spent eight years serving as the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group’s general counsel. She has also taught law at the University of Ottawa, and earlier worked in legal services for the RCMP and Canada Post.
Born in Hanmer, Ont., just outside Sudbury, O’Bonsawin identifies as a bilingual Franco-Ontarian and an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation, according to a biography released by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The First Nation’s elected chief, Richard O’Bomsawin, said news of her appointment has made him proud.
“She’s definitely an inspiration to the nation. She’s definitely an inspiration to other up-and-coming native people,” he said in an interview. “She’s truly showed native people that anything is possible. We just have to keep struggling and trying.”
O’Bomsawin said he knows the newest Supreme Court justice personally, describing her as “a really good person” who put in a lot of hard work and deserves the opportunity. He and O’Bonsawin belong to the same family but are not closely related, he added.
Praise from O’Bonsawin’s appointment came from outside her home community as well.
“Canada’s top court has always been missing an individual to interpret
Canadian laws through an Indigenous lens - but not anymore,” Elmer St. Pierre, the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, said in a statement Friday.
“Indigenous people have long faced discrimination, racism and prejudice in Canada’s justice system, leading to the overrepresentation of our people in courts and prisons. Governments must continue to ensure Indigenous voices help create laws, interpret and enforce them.”
The congress said it is “thrilled” about the decision - the same word used by the Canadian Bar Association, which said O’Bonsawin will be a “great asset” for the court.
Murray Sinclair, a former senator and former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said in a statement O’Bonsawin will be an “important voice” on the court.
Sinclair said he advised O’Bonsawin on her application for the job and described her as “immensely qualified” for the position.
“It is long past due that the court has a seat for an Indigenous justice, one who has seen firsthand the impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities,” he said. “The court is made stronger, and our decisions are better, when there are diverse perspectives where they are needed most.”
RoseAnne Archibald, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, tweeted that O’Bonsawin’s nomination is “an important appointment at a critical time” and congratulated the incoming justice for making “#HERstory.”
O’Bonsawin will fill the vacancy left by Justice Michael Moldaver, who is set to retire Sept. 1 a few months before he turns 75, the court’s mandatory retirement age.
Last year, Justice Mahmud Jamal became the first person of colour to join the Supreme Court’s ranks.
The requirement for English-French bilingualism has been cited as a factor that previously complicated efforts to find Indigenous candidates for the court amid long-standing criticism about diversity on the bench.
Drew Lafond, president of the Indigenous
Bar Association, said despite three seats being set aside for Quebec judges, the court has also never reserved a spot for somebody to represent Canada’s population of Indigenous Peoples.
The process that led to O’Bonsawin’s nomination was the first to include Indigenous representation on the Trudeau-era Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments. Lafond’s association successfully nominated lawyer David Nahwegahbow to join the committee earlier this year.
When it comes to matters that affect Indigenous Peoples, “it’s very difficult to have confidence in the ability of the court to pronounce on those issues when you don’t have any individuals at the court who spent their lives working in Indigenous laws, customs or traditions,” Lafond said. “Hopefully with Michelle’s appointment we can begin to change that.”