As a young girl, Beverley McLachlin’s world was often full of wonder—at the expansive prairie vistas around her, at the stories she discovered in the books at her local library, and at the diverse people who passed through her parents’ door. It’s not all of them who appreciate the anonymity, says John Major (1992-2005), but “a significant number, because it’s a pretty good cloak. Most Supreme Court judges in Canada are unknown to most Canadians. In both cases, they show that the court is made up of thinking people, who have a real concern for the future of their country and the value of the law.”. Audio for this article is not available at this time. Her goal was simple: to tell the story of an ordinary person’s extraordinary life, in the hopes of inspiring young people, particularly young women. Also available in French and Mandarin. Read our. David Hope, the U.K. Supreme Court’s deputy president, has published three volumes of his diaries, with a fourth set to come out this year, covering his Supreme Court years. Honorary Captain (Navy) McLachlin spent her formative years in Pincher Creek, Alberta and was educated at the University of Alberta. They give lots of speeches, but mostly “in-house” to lawyers’ groups and law students. McLachlin’s autobiography is an easy and often delightful read − linear, literate, and non-technical. Why have Canada’s top judges been so leery of writing their memoirs? Please log in to listen to this story. He pulled no punches in criticizing majority rulings on the right to bear arms, election-financing restrictions and, to his mind worst of all, Bush v. Gore, the 2000 ruling that ended a Florida recount and gave the presidency to George W. Bush. She also serves as Deputy of the Governor General of Canada. Truth Be Told My Journey Through Life and the Law (eBook) : McLachlin, Beverley : Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Beverley McLachlin offers an intimate and revealing look at her life, from her childhood in the Alberta foothills to her career on the Supreme Court, where she helped to shape the social and moral fabric of the country. She is the first Hispanic member of the U.S. Supreme Court (her parents were Puerto Rican), and she overcame a difficult childhood in a South Bronx housing project. To read about yourself, you want it to be something nice.”, When he was on the court, he was recognized just once or twice on Ottawa streets. “He will sometimes make remarks about a fellow justice.” In 2015, Peter Millett, a retired judge who had been on a predecessor court (the U.K. Supreme Court was established only in 2009), published his autobiography, a humorous, insider’s take, As in Memory Long. She pursued her studies at the University of Alberta and, in 1968, received both an M.A. Late this summer, retired Supreme Court justice John Dyson published an autobiography, A Judge’s Journey, recording his harrowing family story – his maternal grandmother survived the Holocaust – and giving readers a window into his loneliness when he first joined the Supreme Court, where he felt that at least some of his colleagues “wrote judgments to impress each other and to win over colleagues to their point of view. The authors note that, beginning in 2008, the Harper government had lost a series of cases in the Supreme Court, and hoped to introduce a judge more sympathetic to Conservative policy. Beverley McLachlin is the former Chief Justice of Canada, the first woman to hold that position. But now, U.K. judges are beginning to find their voice. Beverley McLachlin - The Legacy of a Supreme Court Chief Justice - As a biography of one of the most influential Canadian judges, this book provides an account of Beverley McLachlin's unequalled impact on Canadian life Comments that violate our community guidelines will not be posted. The beautifully written autobiography of Justice Clarence Thomas, My Grandfather’s Son (“I was nine years old when I met my father,” he says in the book’s opening line), is a powerful and angry work in part about growing up black in the U.S. South. If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. She is the first woman to hold that position and the longest-serving Chief Justice in Canadian history. Beverley McLachlin: the Legacy of a Supreme Court Chief Justice opens by describing the first female and longest-service chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada as “arguably one of the most effective judges the court has had in terms of the advancement of the rule of law and human rights, clarity of writing, leadership and the promotion of collegiality.”, Legal academics Ian Greene and Peter McCormick interviewed McLachlin for this biography; like her, they both grew up in rural Alberta (and later also attended the University of Alberta), and this is where the story begins: where in 1943 McLachlin was born Beverley Marian Gietz, the first of five children to German-speaking immigrant parents who came to farm “on a ranch nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains west of Pincher Creek, Alberta.”, Working her way through law school, private practice, teaching at UBC’s law school, and serving on the bench in B.C. Yet we learn from this warm and witty autobiography that she always yearned to be a writer of a different sort. As a young girl, Beverley McLachlin's world was often full of … In anonymity, there is less of a public spotlight on one’s judicial choices. In the 144-year history of the Supreme Court of Canada, the memoirs published last month by its retired chief justice were the first such book from one of its judges. Her biography as well as suggested talking points for your call are attached as Annex 1. 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I'm a print subscriber, link to my account, Read more about following topics and authors. Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. Retiring in December 2017, after being the longest serving Chief […] Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. It’s not as if they have no stories to tell. In 2018, McLachlin became a Companion of the Order … It takes readers inside a structure that shapes the country’s history – and preserves details that might otherwise be lost. Truth Be Told My Journey Through Life and the Law (Book) : McLachlin, Beverley : Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Beverley McLachlin, offers a look at her life and shares her insights into the most pressing legal and social questions we face today. Beverley McLachlin was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 2000 to 2017. McLachlin issued her own release the following day denying any communication between herself and the government “regarding any case before the courts,” and setting out the facts, including her wish to ensure that the government “was aware of the eligibility issue.”. Not so in Canada, where a tradition of personal restraint persists. In 2018, McLachlin became a Companion of the Order … Full Disclosure is a legal thriller. Who they are and how they exercise their power might interest Canadians. “And they see themselves as superstars.”. Full Disclosure is her first novel. Faced with an attack by then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper when she attempted to warn him of a potential problem with his pick to fill one of the three Quebec seats on the Supreme Court, “she never lost her cool in defending herself, the Canadian judicial system and the rule of law,” the authors write. She is the first woman to hold that position and the longest-serving Chief Justice in Canadian history. 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