LogoutClaire L’Heureux-Dubé: A Life
2017 
Claire L’Heureux-Dubé was the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, in 1987, and the first from Quebec. This deeply-researched biography takes us through the judge’s origins and life in the Quebec of the 1920s to the present, and its portrait of that society greatly enriches the books comprehensive, intimate, and insightful portrait of L’Heureux-Dubé herself.
We learn a great deal about the role of women and women lawyers in Quebec society, the Quebec legal profession, legal education and the judiciary, as L’Heureux-Dubé ascended the province’s legal hierarchy to the Court of Appeal.
Our understanding of the Supreme Court of Canada during the early Charter era is greatly augmented by this account, which deals with the gender and cultural dynamics, and the relations between Anglophone and Francophone judges, and the jurisprudential debates and controversies of the period.
The book takes us beyond L’Heureux-Dubé’s retirement and into the various high-profile interventions she made into public life, including her contribution to the Charter of Quebec Values controversy. This is a must-read for anybody interested in Canada’s and Quebec’s modern legal history, in the role of women in law, and in what made this woman judge such a compelling personality.
REVIEWS OF CLAIRE L’HEUREUX-DUBÉ: A LIFE HAVE ALSO APPEARED IN
Lori Chambers, Law and History Review, Vol 36, 2018, p. 679-681.
Louise Langevin, Cahiers de droit, Vol 59, 2018, pp. 483-489.
Rosemary Cairns-Way, Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Vol 34, 2019, pp. 165-168.
Elizabeth Adjin-Tettey et al, Collective Review, Alberta Law Review, Vol 56, 2018, pp. 263-274.
Sarah Buhler, Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Vol 33, 2021, pp. 116-12.
Contents
Foreword / ix
Acknowledgements / xi
Chronology / xv
Introduction / 3
1. Ewanchuk / 8
FAMILY HERITAGE AND CHILDHOOD
2. Lineage: Of Elephants, Literary Salons, the Military, and Mozart / 23
3. Early Years: Quebec City and Rimouski / 33
4. Growing Up in Rimouski / 51
EARLY EDUATION
5. Life as a Pensionnaire with the Ursulines, 1937–43 / 63
6. Collège Notre-Dame-de-Bellevue: Classical Studies for a Baccalauréat, 1943–46 / 76
A LEGAL EDUCATION
7. The Decision to Go to Law School, 1946–48 / 93
8. Laval Law School Student Body, 1948–52 / 103
9. Laval Law School Faculty and Curriculum, 1948–52 / 111
10. Life Outside of Law School, 1949–52, / 123
LAW PRACTICE
11. Entry: A Law Firm Job, 1952 / 135
12. Sam Bard: The Man behind the Employment Offer / 141
13. Business Law Practice / 150
14. Marriage and Children / 162
15. Family Law: The Later Years of Practice / 176
16. Practising as a Woman / 193
QUEBEC SUPERIOR COURT
17. New Career Directions: “No” to Electoral Politics, “Yes” to the Bench, 1972–73 / 211
18. First Months on the Bench, February to October 1973 / 230
19. Immigration Commission of Inquiry, October 1973 to January 1976 / 238
20. Quebec Superior Court, 1976–79 / 253
21. Family Tragedy: Arthur’s Death, 11 July 1978 / 269
QUEBEC COURT OF APPEAL
22. Appointment to the Quebec Court of Appeal, 1979 / 283
23. Appellate Judging, 1979–87 / 293
24. More Family Trauma / 307
SUPREME COURT OF CANADA
25. Appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada, 1987 / 319
26. Early Days on the Supreme Court of Canada / 330
27. Continuing Isolation on the Supreme Court / 347
28. Fifteen Years of Jurisprudence, 1987–2002: “The Great Dissenter” / 359
SELECTED CASES
29. Sexual Assault: Seaboyer, 1991 / 379
30. Family Law and Spousal Support: Moge, 1992 / 395
31. Human Rights for Same-Sex Couples: Mossop, 1993 / 412
32. Tax Law and Sex Discrimination: Symes, 1993 / 428
33. More Deaths, 1987–94 / 442
34. The Quebec Secession Reference: “The Most Important Case,” 1998 / 454
35. Fairness in Immigration Law: Baker, 1999 / 470
36. Epilogue on Ewanchuk / 486
A WIDER STAGE
37. Judicial Education and International Influence / 505
38. Retirement: A Much-Heralded Exit / 520
Conclusion / 540
Notes / 547
Illustration Credits / 707
Index / 713
