Even as a little girl, Michelle O’Bonsawin knew she wanted to be a lawyer. In high school, she was told that law might not be the right path for a French-speaking girl from Northern Ontario. “Okay, you’re just looking out for me,” she remembered thinking. Three decades later, Ms. O’Bonsawin is set to become the first Indigenous judge to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada in its nearly 150-year history. Ms. O’Bonsawin told the story of her childhood aspirations during a two-hour hearing in Ottawa on Wednesday, where she combined the personal – as a Franco-Ontarian, mother and Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation – with the professional. Opinion: Michelle O’Bonsawin’s nomination to the Supreme Court of Canada is good for Canadians “I hope to be described as a judge who is well prepared, listens carefully, is compassionate and makes judgments that are clear and firm,” he said. Ms O’Bonsawin, speaking in French, as she often did throughout the hearing. MPs from both the Senate and the House asked Ms O’Bonsawin questions during the afternoon session. Ms O’Bonsawin is set to replace Justice Michael Moldaver, who is retiring on September 1 after 11 years on the bench. (Mr. Moldaver turns 75 later this year, which is the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices.) That means Ms. O’Bonchauin, who is 48, could sit on the court for almost three decades. Ms. O’Bonsawin’s appointment began with the Supreme Court of Canada’s eight-member Independent Advisory Board on Appointments creating a shortlist of nominees for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to consider. Mr. Trudeau announced Ms. O’Bonsawin’s candidacy last week. Answering questions on Wednesday, Ms. O’Bonsawin came across as accessible and approachable, eliciting laughs at times. She shared her journey as a lawyer, her 2017 judicial appointment to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa, and her doctoral work at the University of Ottawa. Ms. O’Bonsawin described acting as legal counsel for Canada Post, and later, as counsel for the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, which focuses on mental health care. In a questionnaire as part of her application, she described appearing before various commissions and tribunals on mental health issues – experience which Ms O’Bonsawin described as something “different” she could bring to the High Court. Naomi Sayers, an Indigenous feminist and attorney who practices mental health law, described it as “a highly specialized area” that intersects with criminal law, constitutional law and administrative law. The area includes people who are “hyper-marginalized and vulnerable,” he said, and includes those who have been found not criminally responsible, as well as those who are detained in mental institutions, but not as a result of a crime. “The principles around arrest/detention, the right to counsel about detention/arrest, interests in liberty and justice – and much more – all affect mental health law,” Ms Sayers told an e-mail. Last December, Ms O’Bonsawin successfully defended her PhD thesis, which she said focused on the potential use of Gladue’s principles in forensic mental health. (The Gladue principles require judges to consider a Native defendant’s background when making sentencing decisions.) Answering questions on Wednesday, Ms. O’Bonsawin came across as accessible and approachable, eliciting laughs at times. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press Asked by Conservative MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay why her thesis was embargoed and whether that was unusual, Ms O’Bonsawin replied that it was unusual – but only because “I understand that a lot of judges don’t really go through the PhD process while you’re still sitting [as a judge].” Ms Findlay’s question was one of the few pointed inquiries on Wednesday, with MPs largely praising Ms O’Bonsawin’s candidacy – and talking up its historic character. At one point, Liberal MP Jaime Battiste, who is the country’s first Mi’kmaw MP, asked the judge if she would share the indigenous teachings that have shaped her. “I think I’m humble,” she said. “No matter where we are in society, no matter how high we rise, we must always remember where we came from.” Ms O’Bonsawin also mentioned honesty, adding: “I’m a ‘tell it like it is’ kind of person. She demonstrated this honesty when she recounted an instance when, in court, she heard a lawyer refer to her as ‘the Pocahontas of our north Ms O’Bonsawin said she put the comment in the court record and then, at home, discussed the importance of talking about the discriminatory comments with her sons. Ms. O’Bonsawin grew up in Hanmer, Ont., a small French-speaking town about 25 kilometers north of Sudbury, where her father worked as an engineer and her mother a teacher. Now married with two sons, she said they have “three dogs, … eight chickens and a gecko named Lizzie.” In brief closing remarks, which Ms O’Bonsawin repeated in Abenaki, English and French, the judge said: “I am grateful to my ancestors for giving me wisdom today. Thanks to everyone who took the time to listen to me.” Earlier in the day, federal Justice Minister David Lametti and Wade MacLauchlan, the chair of the Independent Advisory Council, fielded questions from the House of Commons standing committee on justice and human rights about Ms O’Bonsawin’s appointment and the process. appointment. Mr Lametty has repeatedly spoken of the importance of trust, noting that the current nomination process was created in 2016 to avoid “something that occasionally happens south of the border, where it becomes hyper-political and hyper-partisan in terms of nomination”. During the morning session, Mr Batiste became briefly emotional and paused for a sip of water while questioning the Minister of Justice about the significance of the moment. “I recognize the historic moment that this is,” Mr Lametti replied. “It’s extremely important that indigenous peoples can see themselves in, frankly, colonial institutions.” Conservative MPs Larry Brock and Ms Findlay questioned whether Ms O’Bonchauin’s experience in criminal law was equivalent to that of Mr Moldaver, who is considered an expert in the field. Mr Lametti said Ms O’Bonsawin did have significant criminal experience, but also stressed it was the “absolute responsibility” of the court – not just a judge – to have that experience, which she already has. Subscribers Only: Get exclusive political news and analysis by subscribing to Political information.
