Officer of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: November 15, 2000
• Invested on: May 31, 2001

Consistently and courageously, for more than fifty years, he has fought legal battles to advance civil liberties. The landmark cases he argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of Jehovah's Witnesses enshrined all Canadians' right to freedom of speech, assembly and religious expression and helped pave the way for the Canadian Bill of Rights and Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A man of conscience, he has, for minimal compensation, defended clients in every province of Canada, many American states and several other countries.