Trudeau nominates 1st Indigenous person to Canada's highest court

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nominated the first Indigenous individual to the country's highest court on Friday.

The historic announcement, if approved by a House of Commons committee, would see Michelle O'Bonsawin, an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation, become a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, according to a press release from the prime minister's office.

O'Bonsawin is a fluently bilingual Franco-Ontarian and has served as a judge on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice since 2017.

"As an Abenaki woman, I have a deep appreciation of the situation of Indigenous peoples," O'Bonsawin said in her application questionnaire to the Ministry of Justice.

"I have seen how the Indigenous perspective can be different from that of the rest of Canada's population, while recognizing that all our unique perspectives are at the heart of our country.

"Such experiences have also shown me that all Canadians are different and unique, while we all have common elements at the core of our points of view," she said.

Trudeau said in a statement on his website that "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."

"Justice O'Bonsawin is an accomplished jurist with expertise in the areas of mental health, Gladue principles, labor and employment law, human rights, and privacy law, and has been a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa since 2017," according to the press release.

Gladue principles are a way for a judge to consider, when sentencing someone, the unique experience of Indigenous peoples concerning colonization by Europeans.

O'Bonsawin will appear before a committee to answer questions on Aug. 24 before her actual appointment to the court. She would replace the retiring judge, Michael Moldaver.

Her historic appointment to the court is the second in as many years. In 2021, the first person of color, Mahmud Jamal, joined the nine-member supreme court. As well, Mary Simon became Canada's first Indigenous governor general in 2021.