Gerald Le Dain

Gerald Eric Le Dain
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
In office
May 29, 1984 – November 30, 1988
Nominated by Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by Brian Dickson
Succeeded by Charles Gonthier/Peter Cory
Personal details
Born November 27, 1924(1924-11-27)
Montreal, Quebec
Died December 18, 2007(2007-12-18) (aged 83)
Toronto, Ontario
Spouse(s) cynthia Ledain

Gerald Eric Le Dain, CC (November 27, 1924 – December 18, 2007) was a Canadian lawyer and judge, who sat on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1984 to 1988.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Eric George Bryant Le Dain and Antoinette Louise Whithard, he served during World War II as an artilleryman. He received a B.C.L from McGill University and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1949. He received a doctorate from the University of Lyon in 1950. He taught law at McGill University from 1953 to 1959 and again from 1966 to 1967. He was dean of Osgoode Hall Law School from 1967 to 1972. From 1969 to 1973, he was the chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs (also known as the Le Dain Commission), where he ruled that cannabis be removed from the narcotic control act and be regulated provincially. In 1975, he was appointed to the Federal Court of Appeal and the Court Martial Appeal Court.

In 1989, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

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