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Description
Both lionized and vilified, Claire L’Heureux-Dubé has shaped the Canadian legal landscape – and in particular its highest court. The second woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and the first from Quebec, she was known as “the great dissenter” on the bench, making judgments that were applauded and criticized in turn.
L’Heureux-Dubé’s innovative legal approach was anchored in the social, economic, and political context of her cases. Constance Backhouse employs a similar tactic. Rather than focusing exclusively on her high-profile cases and jurisprudential legacy, sheexplores the socio-political and cultural setting in which L’Heureux-Dubé’s career unfolded, while also considering her personal life.
This compelling biography covers aspects of legal history that have never been so fully investigated, enhancing our understanding of the judiciary, the creation of law, the distinctive socio-legal environment of Quebec, the experiences of women in the legal profession, and the inner workings of the top court.
Contributor Notes
Constance Backhouse holds a Distinguished University Chair and a University Research Chair in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa. Among her many books are Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault Law in Canada, 1900–1975 (2008); The Heiress vs the Establishment: Mrs. Campbell’s Campaign for Legal Justice (2004; with Nancy L. Backhouse); Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900–1950 (1999); and Petticoats and Prejudice: Women and Law in Nineteenth-Century Canada (1991). Professor Backhouse has received the Augusta Stowe-Gullen Medal (1981), the J. Willard Hurst Prize (1992), the Law Society Medal (1998), a Bora Laskin National Fellowship in Human Rights Research (1999), a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellowship (2006), the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law (2006), the Killam Prize (2008), the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case (2013), and the Molson Prize (2015). She was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2004 and was named to the Order of Canada in 2008 and the Order of Ontario in 2010.
Awards
- Short-listed, Canada Prize in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
- Short-listed, City of Ottawa Book Award
- Winner, CLSA Book Prize, Canadian Law and Society Association
Editorial Review
[Claire L’HeureuxDubé: A Life] is an exceptional contribution to Canadian legal literature. Backhouse completely immersed herself in her subject by taking extensive French immersion studies, learning about the Quebec civil law system, and conducting close to 200 interviews over a ten-year period … the result is a meticulously researched but very readable biography of a leading figure in Quebec and Canadian law.
— Canadian Law Library Review
