Honourable Michelle O’Bonsawin – honoris causa
The Honourable Michelle O’Bonsawin was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on September 1, 2022. She served as a justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa from 2017 to 2022.
Prior to her appointment, Justice O’Bonsawin was General Counsel for the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group for 8 years. In this role, she developed a thorough understanding of legal issues related to mental health and performed significant research regarding the use of Indigenous sentencing principles stemming from R. v. Gladue in the forensic mental health system, appearing before various administrative tribunals and levels of courts, including the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Consent and Capacity Board, the Ontario Review Board, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Appeal. She began her legal career with the legal services at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was then Counsel with Canada Post, specializing in labour and employment law, human rights, and privacy law.
Justice O’Bonsawin has taught the course Aboriginal People and the Law at the University of Ottawa’s Common Law Program and was previously responsible for the Indigenous Relations Program at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group. She is a frequent guest speaker on Indigenous sentencing principles, Indigenous issues, as well as mental health, labour, and privacy law. Justice O’Bonsawin is also the author of various publications such as: A Difficult Road to Justice: The Relationship Between Mental Health and Access to Justice in the McGill Law Journal (2024); Access to Justice and Gladue Reports: We All Have a Role to Play in Lawyer’s Daily (2020); A Principled Approach: Applying Gladue Principles at the Ontario Review Board in the National Judicial Institute Indigenous Law Subject Collection (2018); Canada’s Bill C-14 [NCR] A Knee Jerk Reaction to Sensationalized Not Criminally Responsible Cases in the Canadian Criminal Law Review (2016); Mental Health Checklist: A Guide for Members of the Judiciary (2016).
Justice O’Bonsawin currently serves as co-president of the World Assembly of Indigenous Judges and as president of the Canadian Chapter of the World Assembly of Indigenous Judges. She has previously served as a board member of the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges, as a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Ottawa, as well as its Executive Committee, and as a Board member for the Aboriginal Legal Services of the University of Ottawa Legal Aid Clinic. She was an observer member of the Membership Committee of Odanak First Nation and a Board member of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice. She was a Partner Judge for Afghanistan Women Judges with the International Association of Women Judges.
Justice O’Bonsawin holds a Bachelor of Arts from Laurentian University, a Bachelor of Law from the University of Ottawa, a Master of Law from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Doctorate in Law from the University of Ottawa. She is also the recipient of honorary doctorates from Bishop’s University and Laurentian University.
Justice O’Bonsawin grew up in Hanmer, Ontario, a small Francophone town near Sudbury. She is a fluently bilingual Franco-Ontarian and an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation.