Brian Dickson
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| Robert George Brian Dickson | |
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| In office April 18, 1984 – June 30, 1990 |
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| Appointed by | Pierre Trudeau |
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| Preceded by | Bora Laskin |
| Succeeded by | Antonio Lamer |
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Puisne Justice
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| In office March 26, 1973 – April 18, 1984 |
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| Preceded by | Douglas Abbott/Emmett Hall/Bora Laskin |
| Succeeded by | Gerald Le Dain |
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| Born | May 25, 1916 Yorkton, Saskatchewan |
| Died | October 17, 1998 (aged 82) Ottawa |
Robert George Brian Dickson, PC, CC, CD, LL.B, LL.D (May 25, 1916 – October 17, 1998), commonly known as Brian Dickson, was appointed Chief Justice of Canada on April 18, 1984. He retired on June 30, 1990.
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[edit] Career
Dickson was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. He was the son of Thomas Dickson and Sarah Elizabeth Gibson. After his family moved to Winnipeg, he attended the University of Manitoba, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity, graduating with an LL.B in 1938. He worked for two years in the investment department of the Great-West Life Assurance Company selling insurance. He called to the bar in 1940, but subsenquently enlisted in the armed forces during the Second World War and served overseas. In August of 1944, during a battle near Falaise, Dickson was hit in the right leg by friendly fire and had to have it amputated.
Upon his return to Winnipeg in 1945, he joined the law firm of Aikins, Loftus, MacAulay, Turner, Thompson & Tritschler and became successful as a corporate lawyer. He also lectured at the Faculty of Law of the University of Manitoba for six years, until 1954. In 1963 he was appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba and four years later was elevated to the Manitoba Court of Appeal. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on March 26, 1973. On April 18, 1984, he was elevated to Chief Justice over the more senior Roland Ritchie. He served on the Supreme Court for 17 years before retiring on June 30, 1990.
In 1990 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. Chief Justice Dickson died on October 17, 1998, at the age of 82. The library of the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law is named for him, and contains many of his papers and personal effects.
[edit] Judgments
During his early years on the Supreme Court, Dickson was typically known for siding with the opinions of Laskin and Spence, creating a voting bloc that has been known as the "L-S-D connection".
Having come from a corporate law background, Dickson often contributed to the judgements in that field. With the introduction of the Charter in 1982, he made many major contributions to the early standards of interpretation. Among his most famous decisions was that of R. v. Oakes where he first proposed the Oakes test; furthermore, in R. v. Big M Drug Mart he gave a broad interpretation to finding Charter infringement, and in R. v. Morgentaler he found that the prohibition of abortion violated a woman's security of person.
[edit] See also
List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Dickson Court)
[edit] External links
- Supreme Court of Canada - Chief Justice Brian Dickson
- summary of published biography
- Order of Canada Citation
- Brian Dickson Australian Businessman
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Douglas Abbott/Emmett Hall/Bora Laskin |
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada March 26, 1973 – April 18, 1984 |
Succeeded by Gerald Le Dain |
| Preceded by Bora Laskin |
Chief Justice of Canada April 18, 1984 – June 30, 1990 |
Succeeded by Antonio Lamer |
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