Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday the appointment of Franco-Ontarian Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada. She becomes the first Aboriginal voice in the highest court in the country, “an immense pride” for the Abenakis of Odanak, Quebec, where her family is from.
“It’s an important honour. It’s the accomplishment of a career, and for us it’s a source of immense pride. »
At the end of the line, the director general of the Conseil des Abénakis d’Odanak, Daniel G.Nollet, is full of praise for Judge Michelle O’Bonsawin, a full member of his community located in Centre-du-Québec , between Sorel-Tracy and Nicolet.
“It is the result of years of effort in his career. It’s not just a partisan appointment. She fully deserved this appointment, ”he adds.
On Friday, the Prime Minister of Canada announced that Justice O’Bonsawin, who has served on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice since 2017, will take the place left vacant by the retirement on September 1 of the Justice of the Court. Supreme Michael Moldaver. Her Franco-Ontarian identity and Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation was highlighted.
Roots in Quebec
Michelle O’Bonsawin still has relatives in Odanak, and stays there on occasion, such as during pow-wows held in recent years, explains Daniel G.Nollet. The judge would also be very involved in learning the Abenaki language, among other things.
“She comes from the O’Bonsawins, two brothers who left the community a few generations ago to work in the mines of northern Ontario,” he explains. We have a lot of members there [dans la région de Sudbury], as there are many in the states of New England, who left the community by force majeure: they needed to work, so they went to work in industries, factories in the United States. »
Michelle O’Bonsawin was born in Sudbury and now lives in Ottawa. A lawyer, she specializes in the areas of mental health, labor and employment law, human rights and privacy law. She completed her doctorate in law earlier this year.
Mr. Nollet hopes that the judgments of the highest court in the country will be “tinged with the color, principles and Abenaki values” of his new judge.
“Canada’s highest court has always lacked someone who can interpret Canadian laws through an Indigenous lens — that’s no longer the case,” said the national leader of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Elmer St. Pierre.
The Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, Ghislain Picard, also took the keyboard to congratulate on Twitter Michelle O’Bonsawin for her Supreme Court nomination.
Hearing Wednesday
The Liberal Party of Canada promised in 2015 to appoint only bilingual judges to the Supreme Court. The government then set up a seven-member advisory committee to recommend to the Prime Minister candidates for the bench of this court, which has nine judges associated with different regions of the country.
“Judge O’Bonsawin was appointed following an open and non-partisan selection process. I am confident that she will bring invaluable knowledge and contributions to our country’s highest court,” Trudeau said in a statement.
A special hearing of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights will take place next Wednesday. Parliamentarians will have the opportunity to ask their questions about the nomination process, as well as directly to the candidate.