Gerald Le Dain: Difference between revisions

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 with the [[Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scc-csc.ca/judges-juges/bio-eng.aspx?id=gerald-eric-le-dain |title=Supreme Court of Canada - Biography - Gerald Eric Le Dain |publisher=Scc-csc.ca |access-date= |accessdate=2018-01-14}}</ref><ref>[http://archives.concordia.ca/ledain Concordia University Honorary Degree Citation - Gerald Le Dain, June 1976.]</ref> He received a B.C.L from [[McGill University]] and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1949.<ref name="OsgoodeObit">[http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1220&context=ohlj Patrick J. Monahan, Harry W. Arthurs, and Bruce B. Ryder, "In Memoriam: Honourable Gerald Eric Le Dain, 1924-2007", Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Volume 45, Number 4 (Winter 2007), 655–663.]</ref> He then studied at the [[University of Lyon]] in France, receiving a Docteur de l'Université degree in 1950.<ref name="OsgoodeObit"/>

Gerald Le Dain practised law with Walker, Martineau, Chauvin, Walker & Allison from 1950 to 1953. 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 also worked in the Legal Department for the Canadian International Paper Co. (1959–1961). He became Partner of Riel, Le Dain, Bissonnette Vermette & Ryan from 1961 to 1966, now known as Dunton Rainville.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nationalpost/obituary.aspx?pid=99939543|title=Gerald le Dain Obituary (2007) - National Post|website=[[Legacy.com]]}}</ref>

He was dean of [[Osgoode Hall Law School]] from 1967 to 1972. From 1969 to 1973, he was the chairman of the [[Le Dain Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs|Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs]] (also known as the Le Dain Commission), which recommended 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?pid=99936249 |title=Gerald Le Dain Obituary - Ottawa, ON &#124; Ottawa Citizen |publisher=Legacy.com |access-date= |accessdate=2018-01-14}}</ref>

==Supreme courtCourt==

In 1984 Le Dain was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.<ref name="BushnellHistory1997">{{cite book|author1=Ian Bushnell|author2=Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History|title=The Federal Court of Canada: A History, 1875-1992|url=https://booksarchive.google.comorg/books?iddetails/federalcourtofca0000bush|url-access=b5nYZTnI5MwC&pg=PA268registration|year=1997|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-4207-1|pages=268–[https://archive.org/details/federalcourtofca0000bush/page/268 268]–}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/former-judge-le-dain-dies-at-83/article18151541/|title = Former judge le Dain dies at 83}}</ref> In November 1988, he resigned from the bench after hospitalization for depression, presumably from overwork.<ref name="Bushnell1992">{{cite book|author=Ian Bushnell|title=Captive Court: A Study of the Supreme Court of Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5telT6zFRUC&pg=PA489|date=8 October 1992|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-6301-8|pages=489–}}</ref><ref name="Backhouse2017">{{cite book|author=Constance Backhouse|title=Claire L’HeureuxL'Heureux-Dubé: A Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qro4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA340|date=6 November 2017|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-3635-7|pages=340–}}</ref> A 2017 [[CBC Radio]] documentary claimed that Le Dain resigned under pressure from the chief justice, [[Brian Dickson]], due to the view at the time that a person suffering from depression could not fulfill the role of a justice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-january-14-2018-1.4471379/he-didn-t-have-a-choice-how-depression-cost-gerald-le-dain-his-supreme-court-post-1.4471385 |title='He didn't have a choice': How depression cost Gerald Le Dain his Supreme Court post - Home &#124; The Sunday Edition &#124; CBC Radio |publisher=Cbc.ca |access-date= |accessdate=2018-01-14}}</ref><ref name="CBCtranscript">{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/transcript-of-how-depression-cost-gerald-le-dain-his-supreme-court-post-1.4486700 |title=Transcript of "How depression cost Gerald Le Dain his Supreme Court post" - Home &#124; The Sunday Edition &#124; CBC Radio |publisher=Cbc.ca |access-date= |accessdate=2018-01-14}}</ref> Former justice [[Claire L'Heureux-Dubé]] said of the situation: "Justice Le Dain, being an exceptional mind and very great for the court, should have been given the time to get back healthy. And we thought that wouldn't be that long. Being forced to resign in such a position, it must have been terrible."<ref name="CBCtranscript"/>

Le Dain died December 18, 2007, in Ottawa, Ontario. His memorial service was held on December 28, 2007, at [[Christ Church Cathedral (Ottawa)|Christ Church Cathedral]] in Ottawa.

* [httphttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2007/12/19/ledainformer-supreme-court-justice-le-dain-dies-at-83-obit1.html663266 Former Supreme Court justice Le Dain dies at 83] - Obituary from Canadian Press

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130601122453/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/public_mikan/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=141721&rec_nbr_list=141721 From Library and Archives Canada description]'

[[Category:Academic staff of McGill University faculty]]

[[Category:Academic staff of York University faculty]]

[[Category:McGillLawyers Universityfrom alumniMontreal]]