“I’m not just a token Indigenous judge.” Supreme Court Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin on the scrutiny surrounding her appointment, her eight chickens and why she’s not a fan of the spotlight. Read the full interview here:
and Brett Kavanaughs, Michelle O’Bonsawin was intent on keeping a low profile. Then in September, O’Bonsawin, a 48-year-old mother of two, was appointed the first Indigenous judge to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada in its nearly 150-year history—and with that came backlash. Critics picked apart O’Bonsawin’s credentials, which include a past stint at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, plus a recent Ph.D. thesis with a focus on Indigenous law.
He tells me we’re related. O’Bonsawin is sometimes spelled with an “m,” but it’s all the same family. I had a discussion with my supervising group. It wasn’t just my decision. A lot of people think there’s something odd about the embargo, but it does happen. Many theses by pharmaceutical experts are embargoed for different reasons. My situation was unique, in that this was something I wrote as a sitting judge. It’ll be embargoed for five years, and then we’ll revisit it.
Speaking of your CV: you’ve had some extremely Canadian jobs. You once worked as a tour guide at the Big Nickel in Sudbury, which was a huge Ontario tourist draw, thanks to the statue. Perfect answer. Before she died, Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a dedicated stream of merchandise. I guess that’s not something you aspire to?
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