F.R. Scott Lecture with the Honourable Michelle O'Bonsawin
The Friends of the 平特五不中 Libraries are honoured to invite you to the 2025 F.R. Scott Lecture given by the .听
Les Amis des biblioth猫ques de 平特五不中 ont l'honneur de vous inviter 脿 la Conf茅rence F.R. Scott 2025, donn茅e par .
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About the speaker
The Honourable Michelle O鈥橞onsawin was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on September 1, 2022. She served as a justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa from 2017 to 2022.
Prior to her appointment, Justice O鈥橞onsawin was General Counsel for the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group for eight years. In this role, she developed a thorough understanding of legal issues related to mental health and performed significant research regarding the use of Gladue principles in the forensic mental health system, appearing before various administrative tribunals and levels of courts, including the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Consent and Capacity Board, the Ontario Review Board, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Appeal. She began her legal career with the legal services at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was then Counsel with Canada Post, specializing in labour and employment law, human rights, and privacy law.
Justice O鈥橞onsawin has taught Indigenous law at the University of Ottawa鈥檚 Common Law Program and was previously responsible for the Indigenous Relations Program at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group. She is a frequent guest speaker on Gladue principles, Indigenous issues, as well as mental health, labour, and privacy law. Justice O鈥橞onsawin is also the author of various publications such as: A difficult Road to Justice: The Relationship Between Mental Health and Access to Justice in the 平特五不中 Law Journal (2024); Access to Justice and Gladue Reports: We All Have a Role to Play in Lawyer鈥檚 Daily (2020); A Principled Approach: Applying Gladue Principles at the Ontario Review Board in the National Judicial Institute Indigenous Law Subject Collection (2018); Canada鈥檚 Bill C-14 [NCR] A Knee Jerk Reaction to Sensationalized Not Criminally Responsible Cases in the Canadian Criminal Law Review (2016); Mental Health Checklist: A Guide for Members of the Judiciary (2016).
Justice O鈥橞onsawin holds a Bachelor of Arts from Laurentian University, a Bachelor of Law from the University of Ottawa, a Master of Law from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Doctorate in Law from the University of Ottawa. She is also the recipient of honorary doctorates from Bishop鈥檚 University and Laurentian University.
Justice O鈥橞onsawin grew up in Hanmer, Ontario, a small Francophone town near Sudbury. She is a fluently bilingual Franco-Ontarian and an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation.
Au sujet du conf茅rencier
L鈥檋onorable Michelle O鈥橞onsawin a 茅t茅 nomm茅e 脿 la Cour supr锚me du Canada le 1er septembre 2022. Elle a 茅t茅 juge 脿 la Cour sup茅rieure de justice de l鈥橭ntario 脿 Ottawa de 2017 脿 2022.
Avant sa nomination, la juge O鈥橞onsawin a 茅t茅 avocate g茅n茅rale au Groupe des services de sant茅 Royal Ottawa pendant huit ans. Dans ce r么le, elle a acquis une compr茅hension approfondie des questions juridiques li茅es 脿 la sant茅 mentale et a effectu茅 d鈥檌mportantes recherches sur l鈥檃pplication des principes 茅nonc茅s dans l鈥檃rr锚t Gladue dans le syst猫me de sant茅 mentale en contexte judiciaire, comparaissant devant divers tribunaux administratifs et judiciaires, notamment le Tribunal des droits de la personne de l鈥橭ntario, la Commission du consentement et de la capacit茅, la Commission ontarienne d鈥檈xamen, la Cour sup茅rieure de justice de l鈥橭ntario, la Cour de justice de l鈥橭ntario et la Cour d鈥檃ppel de l鈥橭ntario. Elle a commenc茅 sa carri猫re juridique au sein des services juridiques de la Gendarmerie royale du Canada et a par la suite agi 脿 titre d鈥檃vocate 脿 Postes Canada, o霉 elle s鈥檈st sp茅cialis茅e dans les domaines du droit du travail et de l鈥檈mploi, des droits de la personne et du droit relatif 脿 la protection de la vie priv茅e.
La juge O鈥橞onsawin a enseign茅 le droit des Autochtones dans le cadre du Programme de common law de l鈥橴niversit茅 d鈥橭ttawa et a 茅t茅 responsable du Programme des relations autochtones du Groupe des services de sant茅 Royal Ottawa. Elle prononce r茅guli猫rement des conf茅rences sur des questions touchant les principes de l鈥檃rr锚t Gladue, les enjeux autochtones ainsi que le droit relatif 脿 la sant茅 mentale, au travail et 脿 la protection 脿 la vie priv茅e. La juge O鈥橞onsawin est 茅galement auteure de diverses publications, notamment : A difficult Road to Justice : The Relationship Between Mental Health and Access to Justice dans la Revue de droit de 平特五不中 (2024); Access to Justice and Gladue Reports: We All Have a Role to Play dans Lawyer鈥檚 Daily (2020); A Principled Approach: Applying Gladue Principles at the Ontario Review Board dans la Collection sur le droit des autochtones pour l鈥橧nstitut national de la magistrature (2018); Canada鈥檚 Bill C-14 [NCR] A Knee Jerk Reaction to Sensationalized Not Criminally Responsible Cases dans Canadian Criminal Law Review (2016); Le livret sur la sant茅 mentale : un guide pour les membres du syst猫me judiciaire (2016).
La juge O鈥橞onsawin d茅tient un baccalaur茅at 猫s arts de l鈥橴niversit茅 Laurentienne, un baccalaur茅at en droit de l鈥橴niversit茅 d鈥橭ttawa, une ma卯trise en droit de la Osgoode Hall Law School et un doctorat en droit de l鈥橴niversit茅 d鈥橭ttawa. Elle a 茅galement re莽u des doctorats honorifiques de l鈥橴niversit茅 Bishop鈥檚 et de l鈥橴niversit茅 Laurentienne.
La juge O鈥橞onsawin a grandi 脿 Hanmer, en Ontario, une petite ville francophone pr猫s de Sudbury. Elle est une Franco-Ontarienne parfaitement bilingue et elle est membre ab茅nakise de la Premi猫re Nation d鈥橭danak.
