The Right Honourable Bora Laskin, PC , CC , LL.M. , LL.B. , MA , FRSC (October 5, 1912 – March 17, 1984) was a Canadian jurist, who served on the Supreme Court of Canada for fourteen years, including a decade as its Chief Justice. The Right Honourable (abbreviated The Rt Hon. ... The Queens Privy Council for Canada is the ceremonial council of advisors to the Queen of Canada, whose members are appointed by her Governor General in Canada for life on the advice of the Prime Minister. ... Membership in the Order of Canada is Canadas highest civilian honour, awarded to those who adhere to the Orders motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means they desire a better country. ... The Master of Laws is an advanced law degree that allows someone to specialize in a particular area of law. ... The degree of Bachelor of Laws is the principal academic degree in law in most common law countries. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... The Royal Society of Canada, (French: La Société royale du Canada) The Canadian Academy of the Sciences and Humanities, is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scientists and scholars. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ... March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A jurist is a professional who studies, develops, applies or otherwise deals with the law. ... The Supreme Court Building in Ottawa The Supreme Court of Canada is Canadas highest court and is located in the capital city of Ottawa. ... The Supreme Court of Canada consists of the Chief Justice of Canada and eight puisne Justices appointed by the Governor in Council (Governor General of Canada) from among superior court judges or from among barristers of at least ten years standing at the Bar of a province or territory. ...

Early life

Born in Fort William, Ontario, Laskin was educated at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School. From 1933 to 1936, he served his articles and continued to study at the University of Toronto. He received the degrees of MA in 1935 and LL.B. in 1936. In 1937, he received an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. Motto: Superior by nature. ... Founded in 1827, the University of Toronto (U of T), in Toronto, Ontario, is the largest university in Canada, and by many definitions its most prestigious. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The degree of Bachelor of Laws is the principal academic degree in law in most common law countries. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Master of Laws is an advanced law degree that allows someone to specialize in a particular area of law. ... Harvard Law School (HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. ...

Career

Despite his superior academic record, Laskin, who was Jewish, was unable to find work at any law firm of note, because of the anti-Semitism that pervaded the legal profession at the time. As a result, his first job after graduating was writing headnotes (i.e., article synoposes) for a legal journal. Ultimately, Laskin decided to pursue his career in academia. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

From 1940 to 1965 he taught at the University of Toronto (except for the period 1945 - 1949 when he taught at Osgoode Hall). For twenty-three years he served as associate editor of Dominion Law Reports and Canadian Criminal Cases. He also wrote Canadian Constitutional Law and many other legal texts. 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ...

His career on the bench began in 1965 with his appointment to the Ontario Court of Appeal. On March 19, 1970 he became the first Jew appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. He was appointed Chief Justice on December 27, 1973, a position he held until his death in 1984. 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... The Ontario Court of Appeal is headquarted in downtown Toronto, in historic Osgoode Hall. ... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Supreme Court Building in Ottawa The Supreme Court of Canada is Canadas highest court and is located in the capital city of Ottawa. ... The Supreme Court of Canada consists of the Chief Justice of Canada and eight puisne Justices appointed by the Governor in Council (Governor General of Canada) from among superior court judges or from among barristers of at least ten years standing at the Bar of a province or territory. ... December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On March 13, 1984 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. Membership in the Order of Canada is Canadas highest civilian honour, awarded to those who adhere to the Orders motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means they desire a better country. ...

Judgments

Laskin was a liberal jurist who often found himself on the minority side of decisions. His specialty was labour law and constitutional law and he had a reputation as a civil libertarian. He presided over a number of landmark cases, most notably the 1981 reference to the Court on Pierre Trudeau's attempt to have the federal government unilaterally patriate the British North America Act without the consent of the provinces (see Canadian Constitution). The Laskin court ruled that while such a unilateral action was technically constitutional it would also violate the constitutional convention that had emerged since Canadian Confederation. As a result of the decision, Trudeau decided to begin a new round of negotiations with the provinces, which resulted in a new Constitution being agreed to by all provinces save Quebec. Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism, an adherent of the ideology espousing individual liberty and private property, meaning varies country to country American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Modern liberalism, in the USA, describes a political ideology that favors government intervention to promote equality Political progressivism, a political... Labor law or labour law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the relationship between and among employers, employees, and labor organizations, often dealing with issues of public law. ... Constitutional law is the study of foundational laws that govern the scope of powers and authority of various bodies in relation to the creation and execution of other laws by a government. ... A civil libertarian is one who is actively concerned with the protection of individual civil liberties and civil rights. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Right Honourable Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, PC , CC , CH , QC , MA , LL.L , LL.D , FRSC (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was the fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 3, 1979, and from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984. ... The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of Acts of the British Parliament dealing with the government of Canada. ... This article is about political regions. ... The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada. ... ... Canadian Confederation, or the Confederation of Canada, was the process that ultimately brought together a union among the provinces, colonies and territories of British North America to form the Dominion of Canada, a dominion of the British Empire, which today is the federal nation state called Canada. ... The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of Parliament passed by the British Parliament that severed virtually all remaining constitutional and legislative ties between the United Kingdom and Canada. ... Beginning in 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices and at least two murders by FLQ gunfire and three violent deaths by bombings. ...

Among his most famous dissents was his opinion in Murdoch v. Murdoch, where he was the sole judge to vote in favour of a wife of an abusive husband in a case regarding the division of matrimonial property. The outcome of the case was highly controversial. Years later, Laskin said that the position he took in this case was the likely cause of his promotion to Chief Justice over the more senior Ronald Martland. With Laskin's promotion, the tradition of elevating the most senior Justice to Chief Justice was broken for the first time. Murdoch v. ... Ronald Martland (1909 - November 20, 1997) was a Canadian Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. ...

External Links

• Order of Canada Citation

The Right Honourable Joseph Honoré Gérald Fauteux, PC , CC , LL.L (October 22, 1900 – September 14, 1980) was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. ... The following is a list of the Chief Justices of Canada, from 1875 to the present. ... December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Right Honourable Robert George Brian Dickson, PC , CC , LL.B (May 25, 1916 - October 17, 1998) was appointed Chief Justice of Canada on April 18, 1984. ...