September 29, 2006
UNB Fredericton News Release: D718
Sandra Howland, Manager, Ceremonies, Events and Community Outreach (506) 458-7968

The University of New Brunswick in Fredericton will honour a Supreme Court Justice at its 52nd Convocation on Thursday, Oct. 19.

The Honourable Mr. Justice Michel Bastarache will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree and deliver the Convocation Address to approximately 400 graduating students. The public is welcome to attend the ceremony which begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Aitken University Centre.

Four members of the university community will also be recognized at Convocation. Honorary emeritus designations will be awarded to retired professors Philip Parker of electrical and computer engineering, biologist William Seabrook and historian Gillian Thompson. Philip Sexsmith of the faculty of education will receive the Allan P. Stuart Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The Honourable Mr. Justice Michel Bastarache is one of the world’s leading authorities on linguistic rights. Educated at the University of Moncton, the University of Montreal, the University of Ottawa and the University of Nice, Justice Bastarache has distinguished himself as a scholar, businessman, university administrator, advocate and judge.

A former president and CEO of Assumption Life, he has been called to the bar in three provinces, practised law in Ottawa and Moncton, and served as associate dean of law at the University of Ottawa. From 1980 to 1983, Justice Bastarache served as dean of law at the University of Moncton. He was one of the pioneers of that institution’s successful efforts to provide francophone Canadians with an opportunity to study the common law in an exclusively French-language environment. A champion for the rights of Acadian people, he has had a major impact in shaping the law governing minority language rights in New Brunswick and in other parts of Canada.

Justice Bastarache was appointed to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in 1995. Two years later he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada where he has written leading judgments in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law and private law. He has provided outstanding service to numerous professional and charitable organizations and has received numerous awards and honours. They include six honorary degrees, 1993’s Jurist of the Year from l’Association de juristes francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick, Fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers and France’s Officier de la Légion d’honneur.

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