Message from the Chair

DR. ESMERALDA M.A. THORNHILL
LL.D., LL.D., DIP. INT'L & COMP. LAW, LL.B.
M.A., DIP. ED., B.A. HON.

* CALL FOR ACTION *

"The following situation is unacceptable and it concerns us all. The letter is self-explanatory. Using your own initiative, please take whatever action you and/or your organization deem appropriate and necessary."

URGENT - FOR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

BY FAX: (613) 943-0044

Dalhousie Law School
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia

    March 27th, 1999

The Honorable Anne McLellan
Minister of Justice
Room 707, Confederation Building
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

SUBJECT:       Exclusion of Her Honour Judge Corrine Sparks
                        From The Unified Family Court of Nova Scotia

Honorable Minister:

As the first holder of the distinguished James Robinson Johnston Endowed Chair in Black Canadian Studies , established in 1996 at Dalhousie University "to bring Black culture, reality, perspectives, experiences and concerns into the Academy", and as a member of the legal profession, I am compelled to formally submit to you the following situation that demands immediate redress.

The news of the non-appointment of Her Honour Judge Corrine Sparks to the New Unified Family Court of Nova Scotia is being met with widespread disbelief and shock throughout the legal and Black Communities of both Nova Scotia and Canada. The Community of Women is particularly targeted both as high volume service-users of the Family Court, and as a group traditionally excluded from promotion to the Bench.

Appointed to the Judiciary in 1987, Judge Sparks is the most senior woman and the only Black judge sitting in the Family Court of the province of Nova Scotia. Indeed, until 1996 she was the only Black judicial appointee in this entire province. Widely known in the legal profession and community, Judge Sparks is also held in very high regard by Black communities across Canada.

Throughout her twelve (12) years on the Bench, this senior Black Woman judge of the Nova Scotia Family Court has proven that she is a good judge; and she has been very influential in the judicial system. Judge Sparks has assiduously discharged her duties to Court, colleagues, and public alike. Her expertise has been called upon by the legal profession, and has been unstintingly given to assist in judicial training, as well as in research. In the eyes of many, to her belongs the credit for having moved Canadian law forward in a significant way, both for the Judiciary and for Equality-seeking groups. One of her decisions, RDS v. The Queen, was upheld and reaffirmed in 1997 by the Supreme Court of Canada and it is now considered by legal scholars, educators, and practitioners to be a landmark case establishing groundbreaking authority in the matter of "Race". In short, Minister McLellan, Judge Sparks has served as an exemplary model for Black people, for Women, and for the entire legal community.

Consequently, for us in this province, "the cradle of Canada's largest indigenous Black population", it is an earth-shattering shock that a person of her legal standing and public stature should have been treated in such a discreditable manner. The opprobrium of this non-recognition is acutely felt, individually and collectively, privately and publicly. It defies the understanding of any "reasonable person", even as it flies in the face of the plethora of Federal Government pronouncements, policies, and professed commitments to Equity and racial equality.

In my capacity as one of the only two (2) Black tenured Full Professors teaching Law in Canada's universities, and as a lawyer and experienced Human Rights advocate and educator, I am uniquely positioned to attest the piffling progress made thus far to eradicate systemic inequality and to make Law more accessible and meaningfully inclusive for historically marginalized groups. This unfathomable decision to not elevate Judge Corrine Sparks to the Unified Family Court of Nova Scotia is an anomaly that casts the administration of Justice into disrepute.

For a senior judge with the legal reputation and public persona of Judge Sparks to see others of less or no comparable experience being promoted at the same time that she herself is passed over, this non-recognition constitutes a demotion and a personal affront to her dignity. This non-appointment is a giant step backwards for the Canadian judicial system as a whole and for the African Canadian Community of Nova Scotia who, down through the years, have all too frequently known only the oppressive heel of Law. Be they man, woman, or child, the symbolism is lost on no-one. Indeed, right across Canada, this volta face by the Department of Justice, a key Ministry of the Federal Government, will have a far-reaching and chilling effect on Black people, on Women, and more significantly, on those members of the Judiciary who factor the "material reality" of people's lives into their vocation of judging, as they strive to make Law and our Courts a more respectful place for all people.

From my vantage point as James Robinson Johnston Chair, I affirm to you that Black people of Nova Scotia -- and indeed Black people right across Canada -- are slighted and cheated. We, as a Community, are outraged by this individual and collective affront that would turn back the Clock of Progress and tell us yet again that we are insignificant.

Therefore, as a member of the legal profession, and as James Robinson Johnston Chair, I join those members of the Community of the Concerned and formally beseech you, Minister McLellan, to intervene with the utmost speed before the swearing in ceremony scheduled to take place on Tuesday, March 30th 1999, and use your good office to:

1) Review the procedure(s) leading to this outcome.
2) Rectify this wrong.
3) Ensure that Equity is applied.

I further implore you to put in place mechanisms that will start guaranteeing an equitable representation for racial minorities in all federal appointments to the Judiciary.

I thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter and I look forward to hearing from you very soon.

Sincerely,

Dr. Esmeralda M.A. Thornhill
Professor of Law

James Robinson Johnston Chair
in Black Canadian Studies

c.c.
The Right Honorable Jean Chr�tien
Prime Minister of Canada

Jean Augustine (Liberal)
The Honorable Ethel Blondin-Andrew (Liberal)
The Honorable Singh Dhaliwal (Liberal)
Gilles Duceppe (B.Q.)
Gordon S. Earle (N.D. P.)
The Honorable Hedy Fry (Liberal)
Marlene Jennings (Liberal)
Ovid Jackson (Liberal)
Nancy Karetak-Lindell (Liberal)
Garbax Singh Malhi (Liberal)
Preston Manning (Reform)
Elsie Wayne (P.C.)
Alexa McDonough (NDP)
Honorable Senator Willie Adams (Liberal)
Honorable Senator Thelma J. Chalifoux (Liberal)
Honorable Senator Ann Clare Cools (Liberal)
Honorable Senator Aur�lien Gill (Liberal)
Honorable Senator Donald H. Oliver (P.C.)
Honorable Calvin Woodrow Ruck (Liberal)
Honorable Senator Charlie Watt (Liberal)
The Honorable Russell McLellan, Premier of Nova Scotia
Yvonne Atwell (NDP)
Robert Chisholm (NDP)
John Hamm (P.C.)
Chief Justice Robert Ferguson, Nova Scotia Family Court
Chief Justice Constance Glube, Nova Scotia Court of Appeal
Canadian Bar Association
Canadian Bar Association Task Force on Racial Equality
Presidents of all Provincial and Territorial Barristers' Societies
Deans of all Law Faculties
Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission
Federal Human Rights Commission
LEAF
NAWL
NAC
Congress of Black Women of Canada
National Association of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women
Canadian Association of Black Lawyers
Congress of Black Lawyers and Jurists of Quebec
Delos Davis Law Guild
African Canadian Legal Clinic
Metro Toronto Chinese and South East Asian Canadian Legal Clinic
Canadian Race Relations Foundation
Black Lawyers' Association of Nova Scotia
Dalhousie Black Law Students' Association
Black Law Students' Association of Canada
African Canadian Services Division
Council on African Canadian Education
Black Educators' Association
Association of Black Social Workers
Nova Scotia Home for Coloured Children
Association of Black Professional Engineers
Black History Month Association
Black Business Initiative
Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia
Watershed Development Association
Lucasville / Hammonds Plains Development Office
Black Community Work Group of Halifax
Brothers Reaching Out
Caribbean Association of Nova Scotia
Cultural Awareness Youth Group

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