Bora Laskin resource

Heritage Minutes Teacher's Resource Bora Laskin

Cases:

Murdoch v. Murdoch (1973). Laskin was the sole dissenting judge. The majority of the court decided that Irene Murdoch was not owed any part of the ranch she ran with her husband. The Murdoch case was championed by Canadian feminists and eventually led to reforms in matrimonial property law. Attorney General of Canada v. Lavell (1974). Laskin dissented against majority court opinion, which upheld an existing ruling that Indigenous women lost their status if they married non Indigenous men. Calder v. British Columbia (AG) (1973). The case reviewed the existence of Aboriginal title claimed over lands historically occupied by the Nisga’a peoples of northwestern British Columbia. The Supreme Court of Canada recognized that Aboriginal title existed in Canadian law, but the Nisga’a ultimately lost the case.

Activity:

We are often unaware of the impact court decisions have on individual lives and society in general. Many present rights and protections are the result of someone appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada. At the same time, not all appeals to the Supreme Court have positive outcomes; some of the most famous cases are those where a lower court’s decision was upheld. Bora Laskin earned the nickname “the Great Dissenter” because of his often influential dissents from the majority. 1. From the list included, choose a Supreme Court Case in which Bora Laskin dissented, or pick another from your own research. 2. In a presentation to the class, cover the following points: a. Explain why you chose that particular case. b. Even though the appeal failed, what kind of precedent did it set? c. What impact has it had on the community, Canada, life, law, etc., and did it have any global significance?

The court room of the Supreme Court of Canada (courtesy Jamie McCaffrey, via Wikimedia Commons)

Bora Laskin (courtesy Supreme Court of Canada)