Beverley McLachlin: Ten Years as Canada's Chief Justice

Ten years ago today, The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin was appointed Chief Justice of Canada.

She was first appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on March 30, 1989. After serving 11 years as a puisne judge, she became the first woman ever to hold the office of Chief Justice.

• McLachlin Court turns ten (The Lawyers Weekly, Dec. 25, 2009 issue): "Retired Supreme Court Justice Jack Major, who left the court in 2005, suggests that her successful efforts to reach out to the public might be the defining accomplishment of her first decade as chief justice. 'I think that she has presented the best public face of the Supreme Court to the public of any of the chief justices of my time,' he says. 'And I would say of all time, because the court’s judges were more and more isolated the further you go back in the court’s history. She is very conscious of going to law schools, Bar conventions, and actively participating and being available to groups and to people. That’s been a very big plus.' The Supreme Court’s public relations have dramatically improved since its first female chief justice took over the reins with an avowed goal of making the court accessible to all Canadians."
• Ten years as top judge and she's still losing sleep (Globe and Mail, January 7, 2010): "In just three more years, Chief Justice McLachlin will have served longer than all 15 previous chief justices in the 135-year history of the Supreme Court. And, with nine years left before her mandatory retirement date, she could set a record that will be extremely difficult to equal. 'Whatever happens, happens,' she said. 'It has been a great privilege, one I could never have imagined in my wildest imaginings when I started out in law.' Equally unimaginable, four of the nine seats on the court are occupied by women – a development that has given the Supreme Court a unique status on the world stage. "
• Charter issues fine tuned: McLachlin (National Post, January 7, 2010): "Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who took over a court 10 years ago that was under siege from the political right, says the critics who accused the bench of overstepping its power seem to have gone away because their anxiety over the Charter of Rights has subsided. Justice McLachlin, who today marks one decade leading the Supreme Court of Canada, told Canwest News Service she expects the most pressing legal issues facing the court in the coming years will be where to draw the line on anti-terrorism initiatives and how to deal with the nation's growing diversity as minorities challenge 'established social order'."