Overview

Bertha Wilson and Claire L’Heureux-Dubé were the first women judges on the Supreme Court of Canada. One represented English Canada, the other Quebec. Polar opposites in background and temperament, the two faced similar challenges. Their 1980s judicial appointments delighted feminists and shocked the legal establishment. Constance Backhouse delves into the sexist roadblocks both women had to face in education, law practice, and in the courts. She explores their different ways of coping, their landmark decisions for women’s rights, and their less than stellar records on race. To explore the lives and careers of these two path-breaking women is to venture into a world of legal sexism from a past era. When L’Heureux-Dubé sought to enroll at Laval law school (over her father’s vehement objection), a university official told her law was “only for men.” When Bertha Wilson entered Dalhousie Law School, the Dean suggested she “go home and take up crocheting.” Tracing their efforts to navigate a storm of sexism tells much about the roots of gender inequality from our past. The question becomes, how much of that sexism has been relegated to the bins of history, and how much continues to haunt us? Published in French.

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9782760335660

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"A quick, entertaining, well-researched, and informative read, I think anyone interested in a 'behind the scenes' look at being a judge in Canada and the history (or ""herstory"") of these ""Two Firsts"" will enjoy this book. (About the original title, Two Firsts, published by Second Story Press)-- ""Cowling Legal"" Backhouse depicts Wilson and L'Heureux-Dub� as the admirable pioneers they were, and as individuals fully capable of human frailty. Two Firsts is exactly the kind of well-researched, currently relevant, straightforward, non-memoir non-fiction that gives the genre such power. It's not a biography of either woman, but a well-told story of the similar extraordinary circumstances that made both of them ""firsts,"" and how this big job played out in each of their lives and in the life of Canada. (About the original title, Two Firsts, published by Second Story Press)-- ""The Globe & Mail"" Two Firsts is excellent because of Backhouse's ability to both tell her subjects' life stories and analyze their actions within personal and societal frameworks. (About the original title, Two Firsts, published by Second Story Press)-- ""Quill & Quire"""

Author Information

Constance Backhouse is Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa. She has published a number of prize-winning books: Petticoats & Prejudice: Women and Law in Nineteenth-Century Canada; Colour Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada; The Heiress vs the Establishment: Mrs. Campbell’s Campaign for Legal Justice; Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault Law in Canada 1900–1975; and Claire L’Heureux-Dubé: A Life. She was named to the Order of Canada in 2008.

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