F.R. Scott Lecture | The Honourable Michelle O'Bonsawin in conversation with Colleen Sheppard (hybrid)
°Õ³ó±ðÌýFriends of the º«¹úÂãÎè Libraries are honoured to invite you to the 2025 F.R. Scott Lecture - a conversation between the Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌýColleen Sheppard, Professor & Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) at the Fcaulty of Law of º«¹úÂãÎè.
About the speaker
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 eight years. In this role, she developed a thorough understanding of legal issues related to mental health and performed significant research regarding the use of Gladue principles 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 Indigenous 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 Gladue 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 º«¹úÂãÎè 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 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.
