www.manitobacourts.mb.ca

Court of Appeal Chief Justices

 

Ewan Alexander McPherson

Chief Justice McPherson was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1903 and became the ninth Chief Justice of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench when appointed on November 23, 1937.  He became the fourth Chief Justice of Manitoba when appointed to the Court of Appeal on March 18, 1944.  He is the only American to have been appointed Chief Justice of Manitoba.  He was born in Worth County, Missouri, on January 27, 1878.  He spent his childhood in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. He died on November 18, 1954 at the age of 76.

Source: Dale Brawn, The Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba 1870-1950: A Biographical History (Canada: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, 2006), pp. 305-310

 

John Evans Adamson

Chief Justice Adamson was born in Nelson, Manitoba, on September 9, 1884.  He was called to the Manitoba Bar on June 13, 1910.  He was appointed to the Court of King’s Bench on May 1, 1922.  He was elevated to the Manitoba Court of Appeal on January 24, 1955 and became the first Manitoba-born Chief Justice.  He retired on February 24, 1961 and died on December 22, 1961 at the age of 77.

Sources:

-Dale Brawn, supra, at pages 276-287

-Memorable Manitobans, The Manitoba Historical Society website: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/adamson_je.shtml

 

Calvert Charlton Miller

Chief Justice Miller was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba on September 3, 1899.  He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1920.  He served as a Bencher for the Law Society of Manitoba, a President of the Manitoba Bar Association (1954-1955), President of the Portage la Prairie Board of Trade, and President of the Manitoba Board of Trade.  He was a President of the Manitoba Conservative Association and was elected as the Member of Parliament for Portage la Prairie from 1946 to 1949.  He practised with the law firm of Meighen and Sexsmith until he was appointed to the Court of Queen’s Bench on February 19, 1959.  He was appointed Chief Justice of Manitoba on October 21, 1959.  He retired on February 1, 1967 and died on July 1, 1978.

Source: Memorable Manitobans, The Manitoba Historical Society website: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/miller_cc.shtml

 

Charles Rhodes Smith

Chief Justice Smith was born on March 20, 1896 in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.  He served overseas in World War I and served as a company commander with the Veterans Guard during World War II.  He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1923.  He was a Winnipeg city councillor from 1935-1941 and a provincial MLA from 1941-1952, including appointments as Minister of Labour, Minister of Education and Attorney General.  Chief Justice Smith also chaired of the founding committee of la Société – Louis Riel – Society, which sought to clarify the role Louis Riel and the Métis people played in founding Manitoba.  He was appointed chairman of the Restrictive Trade Practices Commission in 1952 and chairman of the Canadian Labour Relations Board in 1953. For many years he served as President of the Canadian Legion.  He was appointed to the Court of Queen’s Bench on May 25, 1963 and joined the Court of Appeal on November 22, 1966.  He was named as Chief Justice of Manitoba on June 13, 1967, at the age of 71.  He retired on March 20, 1971 and thereafter chaired a commission of inquiry into the Pas Forestry and Industrial Complex until 1974.  Chief Justice Smith died on September 30, 1993 at the age of 97.

Source: Memorable Manitobans, The Manitoba Historical Society website: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/smith_cr.shtml

Samuel Freedman

Chief Justice Freedman was born in Zhitomir, Russia (now Ukraine) on April 16, 1908.  He is the only Chief Justice of Manitoba to have been born outside of North America.  He immigrated to Manitoba at the age of three and was educated in Winnipeg and called to the Manitoba Bar in 1933.  He articled with Steinkopf and Lawrence.  In 1945, he was named King’s Counsel.  In 1946, he set up his own law firm, Freedman and Golden.  He served four years as editor of the Manitoba Bar News and was President of the Manitoba Bar Association from 1951 to 1952.  He served as a Bencher of the Law Society of Manitoba from 1949 to 1952.  He was an active member of the community and, amongst other activities, was a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Manitoba and served as its Chancellor from 1959-1968.  He was inducted into the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt in 1968, the Order of Canada in 1984, and the Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame in 1987 and amongst other honours, received the Queen’s Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977.  He was the first Jewish Court of Queen’s Bench judge in Manitoba, appointed on April 8, 1952, and was elevated to the Court of Appeal on March 10, 1960.  He served as Acting Chief Justice from 1966-1967, during Chief Justice Miller’s illness, and was sworn in as Chief Justice of Manitoba on March 22, 1971 after Chief Justice Smith’s retirement.  He retired on April 15, 1983 and died on March 6, 1993.

Source: Memorable Manitobans, The Manitoba Historical Society website: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/freedman_s.shtml

 

Alfred Maurice Monnin

Chief Justice Monnin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on March 6, 1920.  He served three years overseas with the Canadian infantry during World War II, participating in the 1944 D-Day invasion in Europe.  He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1946.  He practiced with the firm of Monnin, Grafton, Deniset, Dowhan and Muldoon.  He was an active member of the community, and his activities included overseeing the reconstruction of the St. Boniface Cathedral after the 1968 fire, the construction of the Centre culturelle franco-manitobain, and the construction of the Education Pavilion at St. Boniface College.  He was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1991 and the Order of Manitoba in 2000 and among other honours received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals (in 1977, 2002, and 2012, respectively).  He was appointed to the Court of Queen’s Bench on April 18, 1957 and was elevated to the Court of Appeal on January 3, 1962.  He was named Chief Justice of Manitoba on April 16, 1983.  He retired on January 31, 1990 and died on November 29, 2013.

Source:  Memorable Manitobans, The Manitoba Historical Society website: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/monnin_am.shtml

 

Richard Jamieson Scott

Chief Justice Scott was born on March 20, 1938. He was called to the Manitoba Bar in May 1963.  He was made Queen's Counsel in 1976.  He was a Bencher of the Law Society of Manitoba and served as its President in 1983-1984.  He was appointed to the Court of Queen’s Bench on June 28, 1985 and on October 4, 1985, was appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench.  He was appointed Chief Justice of Manitoba on July 31, 1990.  He retired on March 1, 2013, after serving as Chief Justice for 22 years, the longest of all Chief Justices of Manitoba.  He served as the Chairperson of the Judicial Conduct Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council for many years and was an active member of the broader community, serving as a member of the board of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Westminster Church Foundation and the Winnipeg Foundation.

Source:  University of Manitoba website:  http://umanitoba.ca/admin/governance/senate/hdr/997.html

 

Information on this page last updated on June 24, 2016