Law Society of Saskatchewan
Find Legal AssistanceMember ProfileMember ResourcesContact
  • 0
    Cart
  • My Account
  • About Us
      • News
        • Legal News (Legal Sourcery)
        • Podcast
        • ReSource
        • Videos
        • Benchers’ Digest
        • Case Mail
      • Mission and Values
      • Committees
      • Convocation
      • Benchers
      • Annual and Financial Reports
      • Contact Us
  • Initiatives
      • Access to Justice
        • Future of Legal Services Initiative
          • The Limited Licensing Pilot
        • Limited Scope Legal Services – Information for the Public
        • Limited Scope Legal Services – Information for Lawyers
        • Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week
      • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
        • Demographic Data Collection FAQ
        • Equity Office
      • Legal Information
        • Legal Information Guidelines
        • Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information
      • Truth and Reconciliation
        • Additional Resources
        • Information on Indigenous Class Action Settlements
      • Saskatchewan Justicia Project
  • Regulation
      • Definition of the Practice of Law and Unauthorized Practice of Law
      • Firm Regulation
        • Designated Representative (DR) Hub
      • New Sole Practitioner/Small Firm Practice Program
      • Act, Code and Rules
        • The Legal Profession Act, 1990
        • Code of Professional Conduct and Amendments
        • Law Society Rules, Amendments and Practice Directives
        • Rules Concordance – Read More
      • Hearings, Decisions and Rulings
        • Hearing Committee Adjudicator Roster
        • Pending Discipline Matters
        • Discipline Decisions
        • Conduct Review Database
        • Ethics Rulings Database
        • Pending Admissions and Education Matters
        • Admissions and Education Decisions
        • Disqualification and Reinstatement
      • Lawyers with Practice Conditions/Restrictions
      • Lawyer Trusteeships and Successors
      • Potential Complaint Outcomes
        • Ethics Committee
        • Competency Committee
        • Conduct Investigation Committee
  • Public
      • Finding Legal Assistance
      • Find Legal Assistance Search Guidance
      • Get Legal Information, Resources, and Options for Assistance
      • What to Expect From Your Lawyer
      • Looking For Lost Wills
      • Making a Complaint
        • Complaints Process
      • Common Client Concerns
        • Understanding Lawyers’ Fees
        • Quality of Service
        • Conflict of Interest
        • Confidentiality
        • Withdrawal
        • File Transfers
      • Common Client Concerns
        • Role of an Estate’s Lawyer
        • Role of Opposing Lawyer
        • Breach of Trust Conditions/Undertakings
        • Lawyer’s Conduct in Court
        • Lawyer’s Outside Interests
  • Lawyers and Students
      • Becoming a Lawyer in Saskatchewan
        • Students-at-law
        • Transfer Lawyers
        • International Applicants
        • Western Canada Competency Profile
      • Becoming a Principal
      • Career And Volunteer Opportunities
        • Students Seeking Articles
      • Membership Services
      • Mentorship Program
      • Awards, Bursaries, Scholarships
      • Locum Registry
      • Expanded Practice Advisor Program
      • Forms and Fees
        • Law Society Forms
        • Trust Account Forms
      • Western Conveyancing Protocol
        • Protocol for Saskatchewan
      • Practice Resources
        • General Resources
        • Successor Listing
        • King’s Bench Rules
      • Health and Wellness
      • Pro Bono Legal Services
  • Legal Resources
  • CPD
      • CPD Activities
        • CPD Calendar of Activities
        • CPD On Demand (Subscription)
        • Recorded Versions Shop
        • Study Group Resources
      • CPD Policy
        • Reporting CPD Hours
        • Eligible CPD Activities
        • Remedial CPD Plan Information
        • FAQs for Members
        • FAQs for CPD Providers
      • Contact Us
      • Volunteers
      • Presenter Section
  • Shop
Law Society of Saskatchewan Courts and judges One Woman Makes a Difference – Justice Bertha Wilson (Throwback Thursday)

The information provided on this blog is to, the best of our knowledge, accurate and up-to-date as of the date of posting. However, please be aware that information can change rapidly and without notice. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information presented after the posting date. It is advised that readers exercise due diligence and independently verify the accuracy of information they find on this blog news feed. Here are links to the most current information available in relation to our Membership, Saskatchewan Case Law, and Saskatchewan Legislation.

One Woman Makes a Difference – Justice Bertha Wilson (Throwback Thursday)

March 5, 2015

The spring of 1982 was marked by two landmark events in Canadian legal history:

  • Bertha Wilson was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada as the first female Justice of the Supreme Court on March 4, and
  • The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was proclaimed into force on April 17.

Born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, Bertha Wilson received a Master of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of Aberdeen in 1944 and immigrated to Canada in 1945. Wilson began to study law in the era when the legal profession was categorically male-dominated. When Wilson applied to Dalhousie Law School in 1954, Dean Horace said to her, “Madam, we have no room here for dilettantes. Why don’t you just go home and take up crocheting?” Even in 1982 when she was appointed to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Bora Laskin advised Pierre Trudeau that there were more men deserving.

Bertha Wilson captured public attention by her decisions in cases involving human rights, ethnic and gender discrimination, and  matrimonial property. Her concurrence in R. v. Morgentaler ([1988] 1 S.C.R. 30) altered the course of Section 7 of the Charter. Until 1988, under the Criminal Code, an attempt to induce an abortion by any means was a crime. The first physician prosecuted for performing an abortion was Dr. Henry Morgentaler. Wilson’s concurring decision overturned the Criminal Code’s restrictions on abortion for violating a woman’s rights to “security of person”. In another landmark decision R. v. Lavallee ([1990] 1 S.C.R. 852), Justice Wilson authored the majority decision that accepted battered-wife syndrome in respect of a defence of self-defence to a murder charge.

Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin commended Wilson for being a “pioneer” in shaping the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Wilson famously posed the question, “Will women judges really make a difference?” ((1990), 28 OHLJ 507) as the title for her 4th Annual Betcherman Lecture at Osgoode Hall Law School in 1990. She concluded her lecture saying:

“If women lawyers and women judges through their differing perspectives on life can bring a new humanity to bear on the decision-making process, perhaps they will make a difference. Perhaps they will succeed in infusing the law with an understanding of what it means to be fully human.”

 

Sources:

Supreme Court of Canada: The Honourable Madam Justice Bertha Wilson (https://www.scc-csc.ca/judges-juges/bio-eng.aspx?id=bertha-wilson)

The Canadian Encyclopedia (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bertha-wilson/)

Kent Roach, “Justice Bertha Wilson: A Classically Liberal Judge” (https://www.law.utoronto.ca/documents/Roach/_08_Roach.Wilson.pdf)

 

 

Share this:
    

Archives

Categories

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe for the latest news from our blog "Legal Sourcery".


Submit News Post

Submission Guidelines

Online Tools

  • Search
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • LSS Initiatives
  • For Lawyers & Students
  • For the Public
  • Regulation
  • CPD

Subscribe Now

Subscribe for the latest news from our blog "Legal Sourcery".

Stay Connected

Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin

© 2025 Law Society of Saskatchewan. Website & Hosting by OmniOnline