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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2001

SASKATOON - The Canadian Bar Association has honoured Mr. Justice René Dussault, of the Quebec Court of Appeal, with the 2001 Bertha Wilson Touchstone Award.

"Mr. Justice Dussault has devoted his lengthy career to promoting civil justice and equality issues. And the time and effort invested during his involvement in co-chairing the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples showed exceptional strength and determination," says CBA President Daphne Dumont, Q.C., of Charlottetown.

In addition to the numerous articles he wrote on equality issues for Aboriginals, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was a five-year undertaking that produced a final report that represents the most concise and comprehensive distillation of North American Indigenous issues ever published. The report will continue to redefine the relationship between Canada and native peoples for years to come.

Mr. Justice Dussault of Sillery, Quebec, received his law degree from the University of Laval in 1962 and completed his Ph.D. at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1965. While acting as the legal advisor to the Quebec Inquiry Commission on Health and Social Welfare, he was also Professor and director of advanced studies at Laval University's Faculty of Law, 1966-1970.

His experience as advisor to the Quebec Minister on Social affairs, 1970-1973, and founding chairperson to the Quebec Professions Board, 1973-1977, led him to be Deputy Minister of the Quebec Department of Justice, 1977-1980.

Additionally, he was a full professor at the École nationale d'administration publique in Quebec City, 1980-1989, First Incumbent of the Bora Laskin Chair of Public Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, 1983- 1984, and consulting barrister for Kronström, McNicoll, Desjardins, Parent & Villeneuve, 1982-1989. He was appointed to the Quebec Court of Appeal in 1989.

Mr. Justice Dussault became a member of the Royal Society of Canada and received the Quebec Bar Medal in 1987, received the Quebec Interprofessional Council Award in 1991, Honourary Doctor of Laws degrees from York University, 1992, and from Dalhousie University, 1997, and the Vanier Medal of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada in 1998.

The Touchstone Award celebrates the accomplishments of an individual who has excelled in promoting equality in the legal profession, the judiciary, or the legal community in Canada. The award recognizes significant national initiative to advance equality and/or contribution relating to race, disability, sexual orientation or other diversity issues in the community.

The Standing Committee on Equality will present the award at the Touchstone Reception held as part of the Canadian Bar Association Annual Conference in Saskatoon on Tuesday, Aug. 14 at 4:30 p.m. in the DaVinci Ballroom, Radisson Hotel. The event is open to accredited journalists who have registered with the CBA Media Centre.

The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.

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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Aug. 10-15, CBA Media Centre in Saskatoon at the Saskatoon Centennial Auditorium, Executive Room, First Floor, (306) 683-5033.