Beverley McLachlin is the first woman to become Chief Justice of Canada’s Supreme Court of Canada. She gave royal assent to Canada’s Civil Marriage Act, which effectively legalized same-sex marriages in July 2005. She was born and raised in southern Alberta and completed her BA, MA, and LLB at the University of Alberta. She practiced law in Alberta and British Columbia from 1969 to 1975. In 1985, she was the first woman named to British Columbia’s Court of Appeal and in 1988 she became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of BC. Only one year later she became the third woman named to the Supreme Court of Canada. She became Chief Justice in 2000. In this role, she made a name for herself as a staunch but sometimes cautious defender of human rights. Since 1990, she has received more than 20 honorary degrees.
In her lecture, McLachlin discussed how to promote the understanding and appreciation of the dignity, freedom and responsibility of each individual in society. She summarized her legal philosophy, linking it to the Dunning Trust’s mandate: it is not possible to have freedom without dignity, dignity without freedom, or either without accepting the responsibility laid upon us as individuals. The protection of human rights was the overarching theme of her discussions of her judging experiences. She argued that her court, and the legal system more broadly, were necessities in a democratic society: we must be able to call on the courts to be sure that our society remains a just society. In turn, she examined how the values and processes of the law support the ideals of dignity, freedom, and the responsibility of the individual in human society. While dignity removed artificial social or legal barriers that held people back to create a more just society, freedom was upheld by a wide legal apparatus that included the constitution and the Charter, as well as the process of testing and refining such things as anti-terrorism legislation in the courts. The responsibility of the individual, she said, highlighted the fact that our dignity and freedom rests on the willingness of others to accept them. While the 20th century had seen a massive extension of legal responsibility, there were still two places where McLachlin urged students to work to promote the responsibility of the individual: in promoting respect for the rule of law and in exercising social responsibility for those who fall through the cracks of the state, to help meet needs not dealt with by the law. Ultimately, she said, Canada rests on these three intertwined values of the Dunning Trust. The lecture was well-attended, with standing room only.