Browse "Politics & Law"

Balarama Holness, professional football player, jurist, political activist, social entrepreneur (born 20 July 1983 in Montreal, QC). Balarama Holness put a wayward youth behind him to become a Grey Cup-winning professional football player with his hometown Montreal Alouettes. He then pursued a career as a jurist and political organizer and ran for mayor of the borough of Montréal-Nord in 2017. His community organizing efforts led to two separate reports (in 2019 and 2020) that acknowledged the existence and extent of systemic racism in the province, while also recommending solutions. In 2021, Holness ran to become mayor of Montreal but was defeated.

Barbara McCallum Hanley (née Smith), teacher, politician, Canada’s first female mayor (born 2 March 1882 in Magnetawan, ON; died 26 January 1959 in Sudbury, ON). Hanley was elected mayor of Webbwood on 6 January 1936, becoming the country’s first female mayor. Trained as a teacher, she decided to enter municipal politics in an attempt to improve conditions for the town, which had been hard hit by the Great Depression. Hanley won annual re-election campaigns from 1936 to 1943, and retired as mayor in 1944. A true servant of the public, she sat on many boards and committees throughout her life, including the town ration board during the Second World War.

Barbara Jean McDougall, née Leamen, politician, financial analyst (b at Toronto 12 Nov 1937). She received a BA in political science and economics from the University of Toronto in 1960, and from 1964 to 1974 was an investment analyst.

Barnabas Bidwell, lawyer, teacher, politician (b at Monterey, Mass 23 Aug 1763; d at Kingston, Upper Canada 27 July 1833), and his son, Marshall Spring Bidwell, lawyer, politician (b at Stockbridge, Mass 16 Feb 1799; d at New York C, 24 Oct 1872).

Barrister, member of legal profession in England who has exclusive right of audience in high and superior courts. Usually retained by a solicitor, barristers have unique legal status.

Beamish Murdoch, lawyer, politician, author (b at Halifax 1 Aug 1800; d at Lunenburg, NS 9 Feb 1876). Already a successful lawyer when he was elected to the Nova Scotia Assembly in 1826, Murdoch lost his seat in 1830.

Rebecca (Becky) Buhay, political activist, educator (born 11 February 1896 in London, England; died 16 December 1953 in Toronto, ON).

R v. Bedard (1971) challenged section 12(1)(b) of the Indian Act, which concerns the rights of Status Indian women in Canada. The appellant in the case, Yvonne Bedard, took the federal government to court after losing her rights as a Status Indian because of her marriage to a Non-Status man. In 1973, before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Bedard case merged with AG v. Lavell, another case concerning gender discrimination (see Status of Women) in the Indian Act. Although Bedard ultimately lost her reinstatement claims, her case inspired future legal battles regarding women’s rights and the Indian Act, including Lovelace v. Canada (1981) (see Sandra Lovelace Nicholas) and the Descheneaux case (2015).

Bella Hall Gauld, labour educator, political activist, pianist (born 31 December 1878 in Lindsay, ON; died 21 August 1961 in Montreal, QC).

Benjamin Russell, jurist, author (b at Dartmouth, NS 10 Jan 1849; d at Halifax 21 Sept 1935). An accomplished and versatile jurist, Russell quickly distinguished himself after being called to the NS Bar in 1872.

William Bennett Campbell, teacher, politician, premier of PEI (born 27 Aug 1943 in Montague, PEI; died 11 September 2008 in Cardigan, PEI). Campbell succeeded Alexander Campbell (no relation) as leader of the Liberal Party and premier of the province in 1978, but his caretaker government was defeated by the PCs in the 1979 election.

In the mid-1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, Prime Minister R.B. Bennett’s political demise seemed inevitable. He sought to reverse the tide running against his Conservative Party. In January 1935, he began a series of live radio speeches outlining a “New Deal” for Canada. He promised a more progressive taxation system; a maximum work week; a minimum wage; closer regulation of working conditions; unemployment insurance; health and accident insurance; a revised old-age pension; and agricultural support programs. But Bennett’s 11th-hour proposals were seen as too-little, too-late. He lost the 1935 election to William Lyon Mackenzie King and the Liberals.

Bernard Landry, GOQ, lawyer, politician, premier of Québec 2001–03 (born 9 March 1937 in Saint-Jacques de Montcalm, Quebec; died 6 November 2018 in Montreal, Quebec). A Cabinet minister in the governments of René Lévesque, Pierre-Marc Johnson, Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard, Bernard Landry was influential in shaping Québec’s economic, trade and financial sectors. The 28th premier of Québec (from 2001 to 2003), Landry signed the Agreement Respecting a New Relationship Between the Cree Nation and the Government of Quebec, supported the Kyoto Protocol and made Québec’s economy a top priority. Following a vote of confidence, he stepped down as leader of the Parti Québécois in June 2005 and returned to university-level teaching.

SURE, THERE IS LANGUAGE, and lifestyle, and attitude, but what has also made Quebec distinct in the bigger Canadian picture is politics. It's a politics-driven society, and great politicians here have achieved star status that only athletes and movie luminaries can hope for elsewhere. But not now.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on June 20, 2005

Bernard Lord, lawyer, businessman, premier of New Brunswick 1999-2006 (born 27 September 1965 in Roberval, QC). After becoming New Brunswick's youngest elected premier at age 33, Lord successfully revised the province's Official Languages Act and introduced widely praised measures to improve bilingual services.