The creation of the Supreme Court of Canada was provided for by the British North America

Act, 1867, renamed in 1982 the Constitution Act, 1867. The first bills for the creation of a federal
supreme court, introduced in the Parliament of Canada in 1869 and in 1870, were withdrawn. It
was not until 8 April 1875 that a bill was finally passed providing for the creation of a Supreme
Court of Canada.

However, prior to 1949, the Supreme Court did not constitute the court of last resort: litigants
could appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. As well, some cases
could bypass the court and go directly to the Judicial Committee from the provincial courts of
appeal. The Supreme Court formally became the court of last resort for criminal appeals in 1933
and for all other appeals in 1949. The last decisions of the Judicial Committee on cases from
Canada were made in the mid-1950s, as a result of their being heard in a court of first instance
prior to 1949.

The increase in the importance of the Court was mirrored by the numbers of its members. The
Court was established first with six judges, and these were augmented by an additional member
in 1927. In 1949, the bench reached its current composition of nine justices.

Prior to 1949, most of the appointees to the Court owed their position to political patronage.
Each judge had strong ties to the party in power at the time of their appointment. In 1973, the
appointment of a constitutional law professor Bora Laskin as chief justice represented a major
turning point for the Court. Increasingly in this period, appointees either came from academic
backgrounds or were well-respected practitioners with several years experience in appellate
courts. Laskin's federalist and liberal views were shared by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who
recommended Laskin's appointment to the Court.

The Constitution Act, 1982, greatly expanded the role of the Court in Canadian society by the
addition of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which greatly broadened the scope
of judicial review. The evolution from the Dickson court (1984–90) through to the Lamer court
(1990–2000) witnessed a continuing vigour in the protection of civil liberties. Lamer's criminal
law background proved an influence on the number of criminal cases heard by the Court during
his time as chief justice. Nonetheless, the Lamer court was more conservative with Charter
rights, with only about a 1% success rate for Charter claimants.

Lamer was succeeded as chief justice by Beverly McLachlin in January 2000. She is the first
woman to hold that position.[2] McLachlin's appointment resulted in a more centrist and unified
Court. Dissenting and concurring opinions were fewer than during the Dickson and Lamer
Courts. With the 2005 appointments of Justices Louise Charron and Rosalie Abella, the court
became the world's most gender-balanced national high court, four of its nine members being
female.[3][4] Justice Marie Deschamps' retirement on 7 August 2012 caused the number to fall
to three,[5] however the appointment of Suzanne Côté on 1 December 2014 restored the
number to four.
After serving on the Court for 28 years, 259 days (17 years, 341 days as chief justice),
McLachlin retired in December 2017. Her successor as chief justice is Richard Wagner.

Appointment of Justices Edit

Main article: Judicial appointments in Canada
Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada are appointed by the Governor General-in-Council, a
process whereby the governor general, the viceregal representative of the Queen of Canada,
makes appointments based on the advice of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. By tradition
and convention, only the Cabinet, a standing committee in the larger council, advises the
governor general and this advice is usually expressed exclusively through a consultation with
the prime minister. Thus, the provinces and parliament have no formal role in such
appointments, sometimes a point of contention.

The Supreme Court Act limits eligibility for appointment to persons who have been judges of a
superior court, or members of the bar for ten or more years. Members of the bar or superior
judiciary of Quebec, by law, must hold three of the nine positions on the Supreme Court of
Canada.[14] This is justified on the basis that Quebec uses civil law, rather than common law,
as in the rest of the country. As explained in the Court's reasons in Reference Re Supreme
Court Act, ss 5 and 6, sitting judges of the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal cannot be
appointed to any of Quebec's three seats. By convention, the remaining six positions are divided
in the following manner: three from Ontario; two from the western provinces, typically one from
British Columbia and one from the prairie provinces, which rotate among themselves (although
Alberta is known to cause skips in the rotation); and one from the Atlantic provinces, almost
always[clarification needed] from Nova Scotia or New Brunswick[citation needed].

In 2006, an interview phase by an ad hoc committee of members of Parliament was added.

Justice Marshall Rothstein became the first justice to undergo the new process. The prime
minister still has the final say on who becomes the candidate that is recommended to the
governor general for appointment to the Court. The government proposed an interview phase
again in 2008, but a general election and minority parliament intervened with delays such that
the Prime Minister recommended Justice Cromwell after consulting the Leader of Her Majesty's
Official Opposition.

As of August 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opened the process of application to change
from the above noted appointment process. Under the revised process, "[A]ny Canadian lawyer
or judge who fits a specified criteria can apply for a seat on the Supreme Court, through the
Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs."[15][16]

Justices hold office during good behaviour (which formerly meant life tenure), but are removable
by the Governor General on address of the Canadian Senate and House of Commons. Since
1927, justices may sit on the bench until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 75.[17][18]