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This is the late Julius Isaac, former Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal. I was the first Clerk hired by him, and he had a significant impact on me. He was a great man, and I was lucky to have been close to him until his death. #blackhistorymonth 
@blsacanada
@blsacanada
A bit more about my former boss: he was born into a poor family in Grenada. He went to school barefoot. But through diligence, he won a scholarship (a Church of England scholarship, if I remember correctly) to come to Canada for university. More to follow tomorrow ...
... while at law school, he worked as a railway steward. He’d be in class all week, and then Friday afternoon, he’d get on a train for a long trip to and from Winnipeg or Halifax. He’d get back early Monday morning, in time for class again. More to follow ... @blsacanada
... When he graduated from law school, he couldn’t find an Articling position. Few of the Jewish or other minority students could. So Bora Laskin helped them. In Julius’s case, Laskin got G Arthur Martin QC to take him as a student ... more tomorrow. @blsacanada
... One day while Articling, Martin sent him to the Court of Appeal for something or other. Isaac returned, crying. “What happened?”, Martin asked. It turned out that a judge had said something rude associated with his race. Martin flew into a rage, and took Isaac ... @blsacanada
... back to Osgoode Hall. He marched into court, and demanded that the judge apologize to Isaac in open court. Such was G Arthur Martin’s stature, that a Bench was assembled, and an apology was offered to an Articling Student! More tomorrow ... @blsacanada
... After his admission to the Bar in Ontario, he returned home, where he eventually became Chief Magistrate of Grenada. But as Marxist agitation developed a head of steam, he returned to Canada in 1971. But rather than welcoming him with open arms, he was made to Article again!
He was readmitted to the Bar here, and started practicing with Justice Canada in Saskatchewan. Imagine that - a Black man moving from the Caribbean to Prince Albert, Sask, in January of 1971. But he did it. More tomorrow ... @blsacanada
... Isaac worked his way up the ranks of Justice Canada, eventually becoming the senior criminal lawyer within the Department. In 1989, he was appointed to the High Court of Ontario.
Then in 1992, he was appointed Chief Justice of the (at that stage still unified) Federal Court of Canada. Brian Mulroney once told me that of all the judicial appointments he had made - and he made a lot of them! - none made him prouder than that one. @blsacanada
So think of that: born into poverty, worked as a railway porter, humiliated as a student because of his race, made to Article twice, yet he became the senior judge in two different Commonwealth courts! THAT’S why he remains such a hero to me. @blsacanada
