ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Politics

    • Michelle O'Bonsawin nominated as Canada's first Indigenous Supreme Court justice

    Share

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nominated Ontario judge Michelle O’Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday. She is the first Indigenous person chosen to sit on Canada’s top court and the appointment is being celebrated as filling an important role at the highest level of the country's justice system.

    O’Bonsawin has been a judge at Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa since 2017 and, according to the Prime Minister's Office, has "expertise in the areas of mental health, Gladue principles, labour and employment law, human rights, and privacy."

    In a statement announcing the nomination, Trudeau said that O’Bonsawin is an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation and is a fluently bilingual Franco-Ontarian who was born in Hanmer, Ont.

    Prior to making history as the first Indigenous woman to become a judge at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, O’Bonsawin was general counsel for the Royal Ottawa, a specialized mental health hospital in Ottawa. She began her legal career with the legal services at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and has also worked as counsel for Canada Post.

    In addition to teaching Indigenous law at the University of Ottawa and serving on its board of governors, earlier this year O’Bonsawin successfully defended her PhD thesis on the application of Gladue principles, which are ways for courts to consider the experiences of Indigenous people when making sentencing decisions.

    “Canada’s top court has always been missing an individual to interpret Canadian laws through an Indigenous lens – but not anymore,†said National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Elmer St. Pierre, in a statement on Friday. "O’Bonsawin will help balance Canada’s top bench, providing a vital viewpoint on the country’s most important legal matters."

    AFN National Chief RoseAnn Archibald said O'Bonsawin is "making #HERstory."

    "It’s an important appointment at a critical time and Justice O’Bonsawin is a qualified choice,"

    Former senator, justice, and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Murray Sinclair—who advised O'Bonsawin on her application for the position—said he knows how proud her community must be to see her reach this milestone.

    "The court is made stronger, and our decisions are better, when there are diverse perspectives where they are needed most. This is especially true as it relates to issues facing Canada’s long journey of reconciliation," Sinclair said. "It is long past due that the court has a seat for an Indigenous Justice, one who has seen first-hand the impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities.â€

    Chief of the Odanak First Nation Richard O’Bomsawin— a distant cousin of the incoming Supreme Court justice—confirmed what Sinclair had suggested, telling CTV News that she has made her community "very, very proud," and is setting a positive example for other aspiring First Nations' people.

    "We need to always strive, go forward, and reach for the stars," he said. "And she has proven this can be done."

    Ahead of O'Bonsawin joining the eight other Supreme Court justices, the House of Commons Justice and Human Rights Committee will hear from Justice Minister David Lametti and chair of the independent advisory panel that considered this vacancy, former PEI premier Wade MacLauchlan, about the selection process and her nomination.

    Then, the committee will participate, alongside members of the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in a question-and-answer session with O’Bonsawin to hear more directly from her about her career, experiences, and goals in the new role. These steps were part of a transparency-motivated change to the selection process made by the Liberals in 2016.

    As , O'Bonsawin wrote about her experience as a First Nations' lawyer, and said that as a child in a working-class household, it was her "dream" to become a lawyer.

    "Taking into account my upbringing, it became apparent to me as a lawyer that my next goal was to become a judge in order to share my life’s experience and to continue my public service," she wrote. O'Bonsawin also said her most significant contribution to the law and pursuit of justice in Canada is her "effort to assist all involved in the justice and mental health system with a particular emphasis on Indigenous Peoples."

    "I strive for the judiciary to clarify the legal issues in order to have an inclusive and compassionate legal system for First Nations, Inuit and Métis," she continued.

    For Claudette Commanda, the first Indigenous person to be appointed chancellor of the University of Ottawa, Trudeau's latest Supreme Court pick "speaks volumes."

    "What Michelle will bring to the table—or to the bench—she's bringing her knowledge as a First Nations woman. She's bringing her knowledge as a lawyer, her knowledge as a judge, and it's going to help to give a more in-depth understanding of those issues," Commanda told CTV News. "This is what I see as reconciliation."

    In , Lametti called O'Bonsawin's nomination "a historic moment" for the Supreme Court and for Canada.

    The process to select the next Supreme Court justice was launched in April. An independent advisory board chaired by former PEI premier Wade MacLauchlan then considered candidates and sent Trudeau a shortlist of names to consider.

    "Her nomination is the result of an open, non-partisan selection process. I am confident that Justice O’Bonsawin will bring invaluable knowledge and contributions to our country’s highest court," Trudeau said in a statement.

    O’Bonsawin's nomination is to fill the vacancy created by the upcoming Sept. 1 retirement of Supreme Court Justice Michael Moldaver.

    With files from CTV National News' Judy Trinh

    IN DEPTH

    Opinion

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster

    A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

    When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

    CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

    DEVELOPING

    DEVELOPING Here's what we know about Israel's latest strike in Beirut

    Smoke is rising over Lebanon’s capital of Beirut Friday after Israel’s military struck southern suburbs – a dramatic escalation in a year-long period of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

    Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

    An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    BREAKING

    BREAKING

    Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    Canada

    • BREAKING

      BREAKING

      Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    • Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • The second-degree murder trial of Thomas Hamp is being adjourned until December so an expert witness central to the trial can testify.

    • In the middle of the small crowd — near the tents, the lineup of kids awaiting face painting, the snack table — stood a jubilant Chiara Padovani. 'When I say 'tenant, you say 'power,'' she commanded to several dozen tenants, who chanted back with gusto. What looked like a summer block party in front of two north-end Toronto apartment buildings last month was a celebration of what renters who withheld payments for months called a 'huge victory.'

    • For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    • Lawyers representing the producers of 'Russians at War' say they may pursue legal action against Ontario's public broadcaster for pulling support for the controversial documentary amid outcry from the Ukrainian community and some Canadian politicians.

    • Viewers of Jeopardy got a chance to test their knowledge of trivia about B.C.'s biggest city Wednesday night.

    Business

    Lifestyle

    • They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    Sports

    • Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he's been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season's playoffs.

    • Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette returned to the 10-day injured list Thursday due to a right middle finger fracture.

    Autos

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.

    • The plant was expected to produce batteries for a million electric vehicles a year. Once up and running, it was supposed to create hundreds of permanent jobs in a small southeastern Ontario municipality. But two years later, spending on the construction of the Umicore plant has been delayed in what the company calls a "significant worsening of the EV market context."

    Local Spotlight

    They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

    Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

    The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

    It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

    A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

    David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

    Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

    • Getting a bed at one of British Columbia's drug detoxification facilities is like winning the lottery, the vice-president on the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council says.

    • B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.

    • For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • Ontario police say they have arrested four members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (MC) and seized a number of firearms after an alleged assault and robbery in Hamilton in July.

    • Defence counsel for accused murderer John-Christopher Arrizza argues he was in an “altered state of mind†due to days of drug and alcohol use, sleep deprivation and not eating, when he fatally stabbed a man at a Banff nightclub in 2022.

    • Injury prevention experts are urging Calgarians to ride carefully as e-scooter crashes land hundreds of people in the hospital.

    • WEATHER

      WEATHER

      Friday will be cool and wet with intermittent showers likely through most of the day.

    • CTV News has learned “significant news†is coming Friday regarding ongoing discussions to build a new downtown arena for the Ottawa Senators.

    • A man has been taken to hospital in life-threatening condition following a stabbing incident that happened on Baseline Road in the early hours of Friday morning, according to the Ottawa Paramedic Service.

    • Police say a man, 30, who was taken to hospital in critical condition after being shot Thursday night has died.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

    • Premier François Legault's approval rating continued to rise this summer, according to the Angus Reid Institute. After reaching a low at the end of 2023, his support rose by three percentage points over the summer to 39 per cent.

    • A mother and daughter say they woke up to flames encroaching on their third-floor apartment near Commonwealth Stadium early Friday morning.

    • WEATHER

      WEATHER

      The big weather story today won't really be rain, it'll be the cooler and breezier conditions.

    • Five bison are dead at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton following an early Thursday morning collision.

    • Gas prices increased in all three Maritime provinces for the first time in more than a month.

    • A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes "indescribable" pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

    • A section of Herring Cove Road in the Spryfield area of Halifax is closed to traffic in both directions following a single-vehicle collision Friday morning.

    • The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) has made an arrest following a fire that claimed the lives of two people.

    • Shamattawa RCMP are searching for a missing six-year-old boy who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.

    • A Winnipeg pet rescue is putting out a warning to dog owners across the city about a possible parvovirus in the province.

    • Driving into the tunnels of Nutrien's Rocanville mine, the largest potash mine in the world by production volume, feels like driving down a lonely highway in the middle of the night.

    • Regina Fire crews were sent to a duplex fire on Dewdney Avenue early Friday morning.

    • The second-degree murder trial of Thomas Hamp is being adjourned until December so an expert witness central to the trial can testify.

    • Amber and Adam Brueckner have a pool-shaped hole in their backyard – and their wallets.

    • The missing family that was last seen in Kitchener, Ont. on Sept. 1 has been found safe, according to police.

    • A 43-year-old Guelph woman is wanted after police say she broke into a house and made herself at home.

    • The second-degree murder trial of Thomas Hamp is being adjourned until December so an expert witness central to the trial can testify.

    • A gym teacher at a private Christian school in Saskatoon has been charged. Terra MacEwan, 44, is charged with assault with a weapon. A Saskatoon mother who spoke with CTV News says her autistic son was MacEwan's victim.

    • Driving into the tunnels of Nutrien's Rocanville mine, the largest potash mine in the world by production volume, feels like driving down a lonely highway in the middle of the night.

    • BREAKING

      BREAKING

      Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    • As northern Ontario gets ready to welcome autumn this weekend, it’s still feeling a lot like summer as provincial forest fire crews continue to battle blazes.

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • Police say just before 7:00 p.m. four teens entered a business in the 1000 block of Adelaide Street North.

    • Police were focusing their attention on the northeast corner of Richmond and Horton, with members of the emergency response unit taking up positions at the scene.

    • An Elgin County community is expected to double in size as plans for multiple residential developments loom. The Township of Southwold expects shovels in the ground as early as 2025.

    • Two men from Barrie have been charged after a deadly shooting at a park in Keswick on Wednesday.

    • A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

    • Ontario Provincial Police executed a search warrant in Walkerton.

    • On Thursday, just after 9:30 a.m., a man was found and taken to police headquarters, where he was released with conditions and a future court date.

    • Standing up, speaking out, and showing solidarity — survivors and supporters gathered in the core to take back the night in Windsor. The city is just one of a growing list of communities that have declared intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic.

    • The Windsor Police Service (WPS) has seized over $56,000 in drugs and have arrested one suspect.

    • In a rare move, the Greater Victoria School District Board of Education has been slapped with a ministerial order from the province requiring it to update a student safety plan – drawing concern around political posturing leading up to an election.

    • The Union of B.C. Municipalities is asking the provincial government to make transit free for teenagers.

    • To appreciate why Mimi Vandermolen is so pleased to notice one particular vehicle she’s walking past, you need to know that seeing this many cars in one place would have been unimaginable when she was growing-up in the post-war Netherlands.

    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

    • The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

    • Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.

    • A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.

    • A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.

    • Lethbridge residents who live near the police range can expect to hear plenty of shots fired Wednesday and Thursday.

    • A new community health profile in the Algoma District shows the area is significantly below provincial averages in a number of health metrics.

    • North Bay Police Service says one person has died following an industrial accident at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Rail Yard on Tuesday.

    • Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.

    N.L.

    Stay Connected
    Follow CTV News