Canada’s chief justice says she personally favours gender parity on the country’s top court, the Supreme Court of Canada. Beverley McLachlin’s comments came one day after the prime minister nominated Justice Marc Nadon to fill a seat on the bench. That would bring the number of women to three, down from four.
McLachlin was asked whether she had any concerns about the gender balance by the public broadcaster’s news anchor. She said “No, I think we have very strong forceful women and the three of us seem to hold our own pretty well.”
While recognizing the prime minister’s prerogative to appoint Supreme Court judges, McLachlin pointed out that the court should reflect the increasing rate of women graduating from law schools in Canada.
“The court should be representative of society”
“I think the court should be representative of society, and of course, one hopes that women will — they’re now taking up more than 50 per cent of the law school places, they’re practising broadly,” McLachlin said.
“We should have a number of women on the court, and we do. I’m glad we have them. I think it adds to our credibility and insights that we bring to different problems.
“I’m all in favour of gender parity.”
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