WHAT WAS YOUR PATH INTO LAW AND ONTO THE BENCH?

My path to a career in law is rooted in my ancestral history in Canada. I am a fifth generation African Canadian, descendant of brave freedom and justice seeking refugees, women and men, who fled slavery in America via the Underground Railway in the 1840s and settled on land near Windsor, Ontario. Adorning a wall of my chambers are multiple photographs of my ancestors. My history has influenced many of my life pursuits. Before becoming a lawyer, an interest in justice and equity for Black and other marginalized communities guided my involvement as a student in social justice issues including legal defence work, among them, support for Paul Smithers, a case that became a famed Supreme Court of Canada benchmark case in criminal law. This cultivated my interest in becoming a lawyer and a quest to know how justice is delivered by the courts.

WHAT EXPERIENCE IN YOUR LEGAL CAREER BEST PREPARED YOU FOR YOUR WORK ON THE BENCH?

My career as a lawyer was almost exclusively as an adjudicator and arbitrator with various administrative tribunals. I developed skills in conducting proceedings, writing judgments, and importantly, acquired a keen appreciation of the personal stake litigants hold in feeling that, in the end, fairness and justice have been done. In 2007, I carried my ancestral history, experiences as a Black woman, my community involvement and adjudicative experience to a place on the Bench of the Ontario Superior Court. My personal proximity to issues of diversity and social justice has inspired my awareness of the questions of fairness and equity that Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized peoples confront, most acutely in the criminal justice system. Over the years, I have grown increasingly to cherish the privilege and honour bestowed by my position on the Bench.