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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has just announced the appointment of Michelle O'Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada, effective Sept. 1. This makes the first ever Indigenous person to be named to the top court.
O'Bonsawin is an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation. She is a fluently bilingual (English/French) Franco-Ontarian. Justice O'Bonsawin is an accomplished jurist with expertise in the areas of mental health, Gladue principles, labour and employment law, human rights, and privacy law, and has been a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa since 2017.
She holds a B.A., an LL.B., and an LL.M., and completed her Ph.D. in Law earlier this year.
Justice O'Bonsawin will fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Justice Michael J. Moldaver.
Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner welcomed the appointment.
“My colleagues and I are very pleased to welcome the Court’s first Indigenous member, which further enables all Canadians to see themselves reflected in their institutions, including the Supreme Court of Canada," he said in a press statement.
Justice Wagner will swear in Justice O’Bonsawin Sept. 1 at a private ceremony at the Supreme Court. A formal welcome ceremony will take place in November.
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