WHAT WAS YOUR PATH INTO LAW AND ONTO THE BENCH?

I grew up in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, an oil patch town. Not many went to university as good and high paying jobs and journeyman tickets were just down the road at the plant. I knew that I wanted to continue learning about the world outside my town and so started studying at the U of A in Edmonton, about 400 kilometers away from home. I started studying psychology and other subjects that interested me (grateful for a time when tuition was cheap). I then met some folks pursuing a law degree and thought that would be interesting. I was a pretty good speaker, a pretty good writer and enjoyed discussions and debates about pretty much any issue of the day, and so thought it would be a good fit. I was right. I really enjoyed the study of law, pretty much from the first week.

After graduation I articled with a large firm, wasn’t kept on, and started working at a medium sized firm. In the mid nineties, queer issues were pressing and controversial. Delwin Vriend had been fired from his job and the Alberta Court of Appeal had denied legal recourse to him and other folks discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. It was a hard time to be queer and there was much work that needed to be done. It was also increasingly difficult for me to be in the closet as a queer woman.

I set myself up in sole practice (sharing space with other lawyers), sent letters to the Law School, the Law Society of Alberta, the Canadian Bar Association advising that I was available to speak on queer issues, joined HIV Edmonton, and joined some queer political initiatives. I took these steps with two goals in mind. First, to preserve my personal health and well being by coming out and being clear and honest about the whole of who I was, and second, to see if I could fashion a career by serving the legal needs and creating a safe space for queer folks in Edmonton.

From that modest decision came much of the rest of my career. I was able to become a spokesperson for queer rights in Alberta; I was invited to speak at the U of A, the Law Society of Alberta, and at the CBA on queer issues (“how not to get sued representing clients who might be gay”) and was also invited to teach as a sessional at the U of A Faculty of Law. Additionally, I was appointed a member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, got a bunch of awards, got to have dinner with the Queen of England (with five or six hundred other folks - at a hockey arena), was elected a bencher of the law society of Alberta, and was appointed Queen’s counsel. And voila, a meritorious judicial application had been created. I applied and was appointed to the Provincial Court of Alberta as a judge in December of 2016.

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

Being in sole practice in the 1990s was a very rich and exciting time. I was representing clients who needed to challenge different statutes because they were queer and so excluded from laws defining, as they all did back then, and spouses as opposite sex relationships. As a pretty junior lawyer, I was first (and only) and never second chair. I was required to, and in retrospect gained great benefits from having to, prepared and filed pleadings, briefs and facts and make argument before the court. I had no choice to be bold, if not fearless, and developed the thick skin that comes from losing a lot.

In the last years before my appointment, I worked as duty counsel in the court of Queen’s bench in a family law program. I really benefited from appearing in court pretty much every single weekday for five years and so had the benefit of watching how different judges dealt with a variety of issues. I carry much of the best of that experience every day as I sit on the bench.

Finally, much of my career as a lawyer was spent representing folks who live on the margins of our world; people who live outside the structures of power, wealth, and influence; people struggling to be seen, struggling to be treated with respect and dignity. This perspective taught me, it will always inform how I approach people and problems and will always inform who I am as a judge.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR COUNSEL WHO APPEAR BEFORE YOU?

Trust the voice inside of you that tells you what is fair and just and work hard to present that position well and properly before the court. The experience of queer folk before the court is that positions that are right, fair, and just, do not always win in the short term but that with persistence and tenacity can win in the longer term. Do not stop pursuing what you believe to be right. Whether you win more or lose more over the course of your career, you will have a legacy that you can be very proud of, and in the end, that matters.

WHAT DO YOU WISH THE PUBLIC KNEW ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM?

The justice system can and does change and it can and does respond to change. The Provincial Court of Alberta has a robust program of education that includes substantive laws and increasingly includes training and exposure to the historic, cultural, and present-day circumstances of all persons who appear before the court. The Provincial Court of Alberta continues to explore ways to support and give a voice to all folks who appear before us and to explore alternative dispute mechanisms. The wheels of justice may grind more slowly than some would like, but they do grind.