Companion of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: May 25, 2009
• Invested on: April 07, 2010

One of our most eminent jurists, Michel Bastarache is known for his invaluable contributions to protecting the linguistic rights of minority communities. He is renowned for his support of the development of common law in French at the faculties of law at the University of Ottawa and the UniversitÚ de Moncton, where he was also the dean. Among other things, he was responsible for developing a lexicon of property law, which marked the beginning of the standardization process for common law vocabulary in French. A former judge in the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, he then played a major role as a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, where his defence of linguistic equality marked a turning point in Canadian jurisprudence. He has also been involved in a variety of organizations, notably as the secretary general of the SociÚtÚ des Acadiens et Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick.