Former Faculty member Dale Gibson remembered for impactful legal career

The University of Alberta Faculty of Law remembers Dale Gibson for his remarkable career as a scholar and his contributions to the field of Constitutional Law.

He passed away in Edmonton on January 29.

Gibson was a law professor at the University of Manitoba from 1959-1991. He joined the University of Alberta in 1988 where he worked as Belzberg Professor of Constitutional Studies (1988-1991), Bowker Professor of Law (1991-1993), and Belzberg Fellow of Constitutional Studies (1993-2001).

In 1954, Gibson earned a BA from United College (now the University of Winnipeg) and went on to earn his LLB from the Manitoba Law School (now the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law), where he was awarded the Law Society and university gold medals. Gibson received a scholarship from Harvard Law School, where he earned an LLM in 1959. Beginning in the same year, Gibson actively practiced law in Manitoba and Alberta until his retirement in 2008. He was regularly a constitutional consultant to the governments of Canada, Manitoba, and Yukon, as well as to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

“He was a gentle and generous scholar and practitioner, and a leader in the field of Constitutional Law,” said Dean Barbara Billingsley of the Faculty of Law.

Gibson was an inaugural member of Manitoba’s Law Reform Commissions, and later chaired the province’s Human Rights Commission. He was an executive member of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Foundation (LEAF). In 1985, Gibson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Gibson authored and contributed to numerous publications on topics ranging from Constitutional Law to Legal History, Tort Law, and Privacy Law. His books on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were among the earliest to be published on the subject.

“He was brilliant but humble. He was a great teacher, lawyer, mentor, colleague and even better friend,” recalled the Honourable Justice Ritu Khullar. “Practising law with him was inspirational. I am lucky and honoured to have had that opportunity."