Canada's Supreme Court has been ahead of the curve on women on the court, as compared to the United States. Colour? Not so much.
Mahmud Jamal is the first nominated Supreme Court justice of colour. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nominated Jamal to replace Rosalie Abella, who is retiring from the court on July 1 when Abella turns 75.
Jamal taught constitutional law at McGill University and administrative law at Osgoode Hall Law School. The judge was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 2019 and appeared in 35 appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada on civil, constitutional, criminal, and regulatory issues.
"I know that Justice Jamal, with his exceptional legal and academic experience and dedication to serving others, will be a valuable asset to our country's highest court," the prime minister said in a media statement.
Jamal's presence on the Court could be intriguing after admitting in the questionnaire that he experienced discrimination "as a fact of daily life" while growing up.
Jamal was born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1967 to a family originally from India. The family moved to the UK in 1969. The family settled in Edmonton in 1981.
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The process of getting a Supreme Court justice (puisne judge) through the process is usually smooth sailing. There are qualification standards and regional seats (e.g., 3 from Quebec) are in effect. Justice nominees almost always get through.
Then Prime Minister Stephen Harper nominated Marc Nadon in 2013. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Nadon didn't met the eligibility criteria.
Functional bilingualism is now a requirement for Supreme Court justices. This puts a difficult requirement for potential Indigenous justices of the court. There have been calls to have an Indigenous judge on the Court.
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Jamal will replace Justice Rosalie Abella, currently the longest-serving Supreme Court justice, who will retire from the court on July 1, her 75th birthday.
Abella is the last pick from Paul Martin (2003-2006), who picked Abella and Louise Charron to the court. Charron retired on her own in 2011.
Jamal will be Trudeau's 4th pick to the 9-judge court. Trudeau also promoted Richard Wagner to Chief Justice in 2017.
Stephen Harper still has 5 appointees to the Court, including Wagner. Harper appointee Russell Brown has the longest potential time on the court, all the way to September 15, 2040.
Michael Moldaver will be the next justice to retire on December 23, 2022.
As we noted earlier, appointing a justice doesn't get you special treatment by the Court. We saw Harper lose a number of unanimous Supreme Court decisions late in this reign.
Canada has had 10 women serve as Supreme Court justices, 1 as chief justice. 3 of them are still serving: Andromache Karakatsanis and Suzanne Côté (Harper) and Sheilah Martin (Trudeau). The Supreme Court will be down to 3 female justices after Abella's retirement.
photo credit: CBC News
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