The Hon. John C. Major, C.C., Q.C., former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, was awarded the Canadian Bar Association's 2015 President's Award in conjunction with the CBA Legal Conference in Calgary.
This prestigious award recognizes the significant contribution of a Canadian jurist to the legal profession, to the CBA or to the public life of Canada. “
Throughout a career that has spanned close to six decades, the Hon. John Major has excelled at everything he has embarked on, from law practice to the judiciary – both at the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada – to a commissioner of a federal public inquiry to counsel and consultant,” said CBA President Michele Hollins, Q.C., of Calgary in making the announcement.
Jack began his career with Bennett Jones and, over the course of many years as a litigation lawyer, won cases that brought changes in local, provincial and federal policies and legislation. After 34 years in practice, he was named to the Alberta Court of Appeal before moving to Ottawa to serve on the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992.
During his tenure at the Supreme Court he presided over some 1,000 cases, dealing with issues ranging from Quebec sovereignty, to assisted suicide, to child pornography, to the ban on private medical care.
After retiring from the Supreme Court of Canada in 2005, Jack returned to his home at Bennett Jones in Calgary from which he was quickly thrust into the spot light as commissioner of the federal public inquiry into the bombing of Air India Flight 182. The five-volume, 4,000-page report was released in 2010.
Jack received his Queen's Counsel in 1972 and was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2008. He is a member of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice and the Canadian Judges Conference.
Bennett Jones