A Chief Justice for Our Times

Photo credit: Noel Zinger

When Catherine Anne Fraser, ʼ70 LLB, was appointed Chief Justice of Alberta and Chief Justice of the Alberta Court of Appeal 30 years ago, there were two significant firsts that came with the announcement. She was the first woman to be appointed chief justice of a province in Canada, and at the age of 44, she was the youngest person ever appointed Chief Justice of the Alberta Court of Appeal.

Those firsts were perhaps symbolic of what has been a career filled with first-of their-kind milestones.

Shortly after her appointment as Chief Justice of Alberta, at which time she was also appointed Chief Justice of the Northwest Territories Court of Appeal, and later the first Chief Justice of the Nunavut Court of Appeal (established in 1999) — roles she refers to as the “highlight” of her “working life”— Fraser turned her attention to broadening the scope of judicial education to include social issues of concern in Canadian society. Many of those issues remain a focus in the justice system today.

“When I was first appointed Chief Justice, I advocated for judicial education on social issues, such as gender and racial equity and Aboriginal justice. Why? To judge fairly requires that judges understand the world around us. That includes understanding people from diverse backgrounds and the reality of their lives,” she said, adding that she spent time establishing “agreement on the concept of social context education and especially three words to describe its scope and content.”

In the end, those words were “comprehensive, in-depth and credible,” and “credible meant credible not just from the perspective of the judiciary but also the community,” she said.

Three decades later, Fraser’s commitment to equality is as strong today as it was back then.

“I have always believed that the application of law to life should actually produce justice, and that is justice for all, not just those for whom the system already works well. I have done my best to ensure that this is so,” she said.

During the span of her career, Fraser, who originally hails from Campbellton, New Brunswick, has held a variety of roles on the Canadian Judicial Council, including First Vice Chair of the Council, member of its Executive Committee, Chair of its Education Committee, and member of its Special Committee on Equality in the Courts. She has also served on the Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute. In addition, she has contributed to the evolution of the law internationally, participating in judicial education initiatives in a number of countries, speaking and writing on a wide range of topics.

A long-time proponent of court administration reform in Canada, Fraser believes that modernizing the governance model for court administration improves responsiveness and accountability to the public.

“Judicial independence and judicial accountability go hand in hand in preserving public confidence,” she said.

The leadership role that Fraser has played in the administration of justice in Canada and internationally has been recognized by the legal and broader community. The Universities of Alberta, Calgary, Lethbridge and Windsor have awarded her Honorary Doctorates, and in 2013, she was named the recipient of the Canadian Bar Association’s (CBA’s) Touchstone Award. According to the CBA’s website, this award “celebrates the accomplishments of an individual or an organization who has excelled in promoting equality in the legal profession, the judiciary, or the legal community in Canada.”

In Edmonton, Fraser is a recognizable face around the Faculty of Law. While articling, she taught a course on Women and the Law, understood to be one of the first in Canada. She also wrote the foreword to Truth Be Told: An Anthology of Inspirational Stories by Women in Law, a publication initiated by Edmonton lawyers Teresa Haykowsky, QC, Jeananne Kirwin, QC, and Sarah Eadie, ʼ03 LLB.

Fraser has come a long way from her days at the Faculty where, as a student, she received the George Bligh O’Connor Silver Medal in Law. Despite being a top student, Fraser said she did not look too far ahead when it came to her career following graduation.

“As a woman, just to get an articling position then was a hurdle. I still recall one articling interview where the entire interview consisted of these questions: What is your name, address and telephone number? Needless to say, I did not get that articling position,” she said.

As it turned out, she landed something even better: a spot articling for the late Joseph Stratton, QC, who was also later appointed to the Alberta Court of Appeal.

After a career dedicated to the fair and equal delivery of justice, Fraser is about to enter her next chapter, but no one believes she is closing the book. When asked about her plans following her final day as Chief Justice, she replied: “My first thought — what plans? I have been too busy to think about that. When you are running at full speed, you are not thinking of what happens after you hit the marathon finishing line. My second thought — it will take me months to catch up on my sleep. My third thought — I need to attend to all the organizational household decisions I have put aside for the past 30 years. If you ask my immediate family or siblings, they will tell you that the list is a long one.”

Those who know her, however, say that this modest description of retirement to a quieter life may fairly depict some well-earned downtime, but it is not likely to represent what a rested and refreshed Catherine Fraser will turn to next.

When she was appointed Chief Justice, Fraser was asked how she would like to be remembered. Her answer: “As a Chief Justice for the times.” Her record as a court leader, jurist, judicial educator and court administration reformer speaks to that. But it is an incomplete self-assessment. The consensus view of others is that she was not merely “for” the times, let alone “of” the times. She was ahead of the times and brought them along with her.