The Hon. Marion Lane

Justice Marion Lane’s oral history chronicles her journey from a childhood in British Columbia to becoming a pioneering figure in Ontario’s legal system. Born in 1944 in New Westminster, BC, Lane overcame early gender discrimination in education and pursued Honours History at UBC before serving with CUSO in Burkina Faso. After studying at the Sorbonne, she entered Osgoode Hall Law School in 1971 and built a distinguished career in family law and child advocacy.

Lane founded Justice for Children in 1978, serving as General Counsel and advocating for children’s legal rights through education programs and policy development. She worked with an all-women law firm and served on various committees addressing child abuse before her appointment to the Ontario Provincial Court in 1991 during the NDP government’s post-Askov judicial expansion. Her judicial career began at the challenging Brampton courthouse, housed in a converted chicken factory with severe infrastructure problems, before moving to Scarborough in 1995 where she handled serious criminal cases including youth court matters involving gang violence.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.