by Natasha Mekhail / photograph by Tony Fouhse
Depending on who you talk to, she’s either beloved or a beast. Beverley McLachlin has heard it all in her 26 years on the bench. But the Supreme Court of Canada’s Chief Justice is nothing like the severe creature you’d expect. Warm, funny and modest, McLachlin began her journey to the high court in the shadow of the Rockies in Pincher Creek.
As a child, I was always kind of a peacemaker. I wasn’t the sort of person to fight. I certainly had no idea I’d ever become a lawyer or a judge. I was shy and quiet in university. I was introverted. But I had a lot of questions.
When I first started to practice law, it was full of challenges. Everyone who does it wonders, “How am I going to manage this? How am I going to learn so much?” There was a time of questions and doubts. I was 37 when I was called to the bench. At that time it was very male. They wanted more women judges but there weren’t a lot around, so that probably was a factor. I enjoyed being a lawyer, but being a judge just suited my temperament. I loved the courtroom scene unfolding in every case. I loved the human-interest drama.
I’ve given different messages through the years to students, but the main thing that I try to convey now is that you’re a young, educated person living in one of the best countries in the world. You’re lucky because people before you have made the right decisions, have preserved the right values, have built the right kind of society – now it’s your job to do the same thing so that the next generation will be as fortunate.
Being a Supreme Court justice is a big responsibility and, when you stop to think about it, I suppose you could become paralyzed. To be responsible, to listen, to consider: I think I’m humble enough to know that’s all I can do at the end of the day. U
See a transcript of the full interview with Beverley McLachlin here in online exclusives.
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