TORONTO — The contributions of former Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Bora Laskin, widely considered the most accomplished legal scholar of his generation, are celebrated in Historica Canada's latest Heritage Minute video.
Hollywood actor and fellow Canadian Victor Garber portrays Laskin in the video, which was released Wednesday.
Born in Fort William in 1912 to Russian immigrant parents, Laskin earned degrees at the University of Toronto and the Harvard Law School, achieving exceptionally high marks in the process.
Historica Canada, a charitable organization, said that despite his academic success, he initially had trouble finding work in Toronto, "where antisemitism was common at the time."
Laskin did return to the U of T to teach, and was instrumental in the revamping of the law faculty.
In 1965, he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal, where his reputation as a champion of civil liberties grew.
After Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1970, Laskin became known as "the great dissenter" because he frequently disagreed with other members of the largely conservative court.
In 1973, he became Chief Justice, and served for 11 years until his passing in 1984 at the age of 71.
Emmy-nominated Garber, who's acted in numerous high-profile motion pictures and the TV series Family Law, said he's honoured to portray Laskin in the Heritage Minute.
Describing himself as being of Polish Jewish descent, he said "Being a part of this has been so eye-opening. I urge everybody to take a vital interest in the history of Canada."
Anthony Wilson-Smith, president and CEO of Historica Canada, said the late Chief Justice's impact "as one of the foremost legal minds in Canadian history, in the face of pervasive antisemitism, cannot be overstated," adding that his work has shaped the country's legal landscape to this day.
Beverley McLachlin, Canada's longest-serving Chief Justice and the first woman to be appointed to that position, is the narrator at the end of the video, and credits him with fighting "for fairness and civil rights for all Canadians."
In 2014, Lakehead University named its new faculty of law after Laskin.
“Bora Laskin was instrumental in writing numerous key pieces of Canadian law,” said the faculty's founding dean, Lee Stuesser. “As a law school making its own unique mark on Canada’s legal landscape, it’s fitting to name this law school for someone who, himself, set precedent-making laws.”
