Female Chief Justice Named in Canada

Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Wednesday named a judge labeled alternately as an outstanding jurist and a radical feminist as the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Beverley McLachlin, 56, who has served on the Supreme Court for a decade, has written several majority decisions in some of the most far-reaching cases expanding women’s rights.

“Her decisions have really created an egalitarian jurisprudence,” said Andree Cote, director of legislation for the National Assn. of Women and the Law.

Cote cited as an example a decision in September that ruled that an aerobics test that led to the firing of a female firefighter in British Columbia was discriminatory. Some women’s groups welcomed that, but the British Columbia government worried about safety if standards were lowered.

McLachlin also wrote an opinion in July that barred a boy from suing his mother for prenatal injuries, a decision with ramifications for the abortion debate.

The conservative Canada Family Action Coalition has labeled McLachlin a “radical feminist” with a bias against families. “It’s not a good day for justice in this country,” group spokesman Peter Stock said in Ottawa.

He cited as examples the M. vs. H. and Vriend decisions, in which McLachlin concurred. The first struck down a heterosexual definition of “spouse,” prompting the Canadian federal and at least a couple of provincial governments to look at revising all their laws. The Vriend decision ruled in favor of a gay man fired by a Christian college because of his sexual orientation.

But McLachlin fell afoul of feminist groups in 1991, early in her stay on the Supreme Court, when she wrote the decision striking down a rape-shield law that had kept rape victims from being asked about their sexual history.

“As a female minister of justice, I’m very pleased about the fact that the prime minister has appointed the first woman to that position,” federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan told reporters.

“She’s a person of outstanding ability. She is someone who understands this country. She is a person of balance.”

McLachlin was born in Alberta and served in British Columbia courts before joining the Supreme Court of Canada.

She will replace Quebec’s Antonio Lamer, 66, who is retiring Jan. 7.