For Immediate Release
August 12, 2005
VANCOUVER – Montreal's Judge Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré of the Court of Quebec has been awarded the 2005 Touchstone Award.
"Judge Westmoreland-Traoré's commitment to battling discrimination and promoting equity for all Canadians is unquestioned," said Canadian Bar Association President Susan McGrath, of Iroquois Falls, Ont. "She completely exemplifies the spirit of the Touchstone Award."
Judge Westmoreland-Traoré received her law degree from the Université de Montréal and a doctorate from the Université de Paris II. She began practicing law in 1970, was a professor in the Department of Legal Sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal from 1976 to 1991, and was a member of the Office de protection des consommateurs du Québec from 1979 to 1993.
From 1983 to 1985, she acted as a Commissioner for the Canadian Human Rights Commission. In 1985, she became the first chair of Québec's Conseil des communautés culturelles et de l'immigration, where she worked diligently to build bridges among Québec's diverse communities. From 1991 to 1995, she was Employment Equity Commissioner of Ontario.
Between 1996 and 1999, Judge Westmoreland-Traoré was the dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Windsor. She was the first black Canadian to hold such a post. She was nominated to the Court of Québec in 1999.
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 initiatives 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 Legal Conference in Vancouver on Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the Coal Harbour Suite of the Pan Pacific 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 34,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Tel: (613) 237-2925, ext. 146; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org. Aug. 12-15: (604) 647-7408.
