Mary Moreau would like a majority of women on the Supreme Court to become usual

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Parliament summoned Judge Mary Moreau to a hearing to examine the reasons motivating her appointment as required protocol.

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The swearing-in of Judge Mary Moreau to the Supreme Court would be historic, since for the first time, women would be in the majority, occupying five of the nine seats. The Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta says she looks forward to the day when such a majority will no longer be considered an event in itself.

What will really be an interesting thing, if I may say so, is when it is no longer remarkable, said Mary Moreau during her hearing before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights of the House of Commons. common.

Always, during this hearing, Mary Moreau reflected on the path taken by the legal profession and by the courts with regard to the representation of women.< /p>

We have seen incredible improvement.

A quote from Mary Moreau< /blockquote>

During her law studies, a quarter of the students were women, while today, the proportion is closer to 50%, recalls the judge.< /p>

Then I decided I liked criminal law and when I looked around there were very few women practicing law criminal at that time, remembers Mary Moreau. The observation was the same when she entered the judiciary.

For more than two hours, Mary Moreau answered questions from 22 deputies and senators. This meeting serves in particular to establish the necessary bases to decide whether the appointment of Mary Moreau as a judge to the Supreme Court goes forward.

The questions covered several themes, ranging from the judge's approach to managing the mental health of defendants in the justice system to improving the system for victims, including the challenges of digital modernization of courts and the relationship between the judiciary and Parliament.

The Alberta chief justice presented her thoughts while avoiding formulating thoughts on questions that could be brought before the Supreme Court, such as the preventive use of the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the questions of linguistic rights.

Mary Moreau stressed that her father's fight for his children to have access to education in the French language had helped her to forge its vision of minority rights.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has chosen Mary Moreau to fill the vacant Supreme Court position from a list of two names submitted by an independent advisory committee tasked with helping find a candidate.

Judge Mary Moreau distinguished herself by her expertise in constitutional law and criminal law, as well as her mastery of French.< /p>

Before being appointed a judge in Alberta almost 30 years ago, Mary Moreau practiced law in her hometown of Edmonton. p>

Former Justice Russell Brown retired from the Supreme Court in June following an investigation by the Canadian Judicial Council into a allegation of misconduct. The incident reportedly occurred in Arizona in January. He was accused of being drunk and harassing a group. Russell Brown denies the veracity of these allegations.

With information from The Canadian Press