Brian Dickson
Encyclopedia : B : BR : BRI : Brian Dickson
- Not be confused with franco-ontarian poet Robert Dickson
Career
Dickson was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. He was the son of Thomas Dickson and Sarah Elizabeth Gibson. After his family moved to Winnipeg, he attended the University of Manitoba, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity, graduating with an LL.B in 1938. He worked for two years in the investment department of the Great-West Life Assurance Company selling insurance. He called to the bar in 1940, but subsenquently enlisted in the armed forces during the Second World War to served overseas. In August of 1944, during a battle near Falaise, Dickson was hit in the right leg by friendly fire and had to have it amputated.Upon his return to Winnipeg in 1945, he joined the law firm of Aikins, Loftus, MacAulay, Turner, Thompson & Tritschler and became successful as a corporate lawyer. He also lectured at the Faculty of Law of the University of Manitoba for six years, until 1954. In 1963 he was appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba and four years later was elevated to the Manitoba Court of Appeal. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on March 26, 1973. On April 18, 1984, he was elevated to Chief Justice over the more senior Roland Ritchie. He served on the Supreme Court for 17 years before retiring on June 30, 1990.
In 1990 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. Chief Justice Dickson died on October 17, 1998, at the age of 82.
Judgments
During his early years on the Supreme Court, Dickson was typically known for siding with the opinions of Laskin and Spence, creating a voting bloc that has been known as the "L-S-D connection".Having come from a corporate law background, Dickson often contributed to the judgements in that field. With the introduction of the Charter in 1982, he made many major contributions to the early standards of interpretation. Among his most famous decisions was that of R. v. Oakes where he first proposed the Oakes test, in R. v. Big M Drug Mart he gave a broad interpretation to finding Charter infringement, in R. v. Morgentaler he found that the prohibition of abortion violated a woman's security of person.
See also
List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Dickson Court)External links
- [Supreme Court of Canada - Chief Justice Brian Dickson]
- [summary of published biography]
- [Order of Canada Citation]
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| The Laskin court (1973–1984) | |||
| 1973–1977: R. Martland | W. Judson | R. Ritchie | W.F. Spence | L. Pigeon | B. Dickson | J. Beetz | L.P. de Grandpré | |||
| 1977–1978: R. Martland | R. Ritchie | W.F. Spence | L. Pigeon | B. Dickson | J. Beetz | W.Z. Estey | Y. Pratte | |||
| Jan. 1979-Sept. 1979: R. Martland | R. Ritchie | L. Pigeon | B. Dickson | J. Beetz | W.Z. Estey | Y. Pratte | W.R. McIntyre | |||
| Sept. 1979-1980: R. Martland | R. Ritchie | L. Pigeon | B. Dickson | J. Beetz | W.Z. Estey | W.R. McIntyre | J. Chouinard | |||
| 1980-1982: R. Martland | R. Ritchie | B. Dickson | J. Beetz | W.Z. Estey | W.R. McIntyre | J. Chouinard | A. Lamer | |||
| 1982-1984 R. Ritchie | B. Dickson | J. Beetz | W.Z. Estey | W.R. McIntyre | J. Chouinard | A. Lamer | B. Wilson | |||
| The Dickson court (1984–1990) | |||
| 1984–1985: R. Ritchie | J. Beetz | W.Z. Estey | W.R. McIntyre | J. Chouinard | A. Lamer | B. Wilson | G. Le Dain | |||
| 1985–1987: J. Beetz | W.Z. Estey | W.R. McIntyre | J. Chouinard | A. Lamer | B. Wilson | G. Le Dain | G. La Forest | |||
| 1987–May 1988: J. Beetz | W.Z. Estey | W.R. McIntyre | A. Lamer | B. Wilson | G. Le Dain | G. La Forest | C. L'Heureux-Dubé | |||
| May 1988–Nov. 1988: J. Beetz | W.R. McIntyre | A. Lamer | B. Wilson | G. Le Dain | G. La Forest | C. L'Heureux-Dubé | J. Sopinka | |||
| Nov. 1988-1989 W.R. McIntyre | A. Lamer | B. Wilson | G. La Forest | C. L'Heureux-Dubé | J. Sopinka | C. Gonthier | P. Cory | |||
| March 1989-1990 A. Lamer | B. Wilson | G. La Forest | C. L'Heureux-Dubé | J. Sopinka | C. Gonthier | P. Cory | B. McLachlin | |||
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