Do you see yourself reflected in the Canadian judiciary? For many in our increasingly diverse society and profession, the answer is “no”.
There is a glaring gap of diversity among our judges. According to a 2012 study by Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute, only 2.3 percent of federally appointed judges (i.e., on provincial superior and appellate courts) are people of colour. A similar survey conducted by The Globe and Mail revealed that only a small handful of judicial appointments by the federal government since 2009 were from equity-seeking communities. There is no visible minority representation on the Supreme Court of Canada. While Ontario has fared somewhat better in that 10.9 percent of the provincial government’s appointees are visible minorities, this is nonetheless out of step with the diversity of a province where, as of 2006, visible minorities accounted for 22.8 percent of the population.
Read the rest at JUST. Magazine.
JUST. Magazine, October 2013
Diversity Gap on the Bench