Announcing the 2018 Canada Lecture

The Honourable Justice Russell G. Juriansz was born in India in 1946 and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1955. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree then went on to attend Osgoode Hall Law School, graduating with his LLB in 1972. After articling at Blake, Cassels & Graydon, Justice Juriansz was called to the Ontario Bar in 1974. In 1998, Justice Juriansz became the first person of South Asian origin appointed to the Superior Court of Ontario. Then in 2004, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario becoming the first racialized judge of that court. Prior to his 1998 appointment, Justice Juriansz was a lawyer for 24 years, both in government and in private practice. He served as legal counsel, general counsel and then director of legal services of the then newly established Canadian Human Rights Commission (1978-87).

Justice Juriansz practised principally in the area of human rights and constitutional law. He has appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada on some of the country’s seminal human rights cases, including discrimination (Bhinder v. CNR and O’Malley v. Simpsons-Sears), sexual harassment (Robichaud v. Canada (Treasury Board), and pay equity (SEPQA v. Canada (Human Rights Commission).