This book is a collection of seventeen scholarly articles and personal reminiscences that examine the life and career of the late Bora Laskin, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. The essays are written by family members, judges, law professors, and lawyers whose recollections about Laskin flesh out the life of a man "at the summit of Canada’s political and legal life," with commentary from some whose paths crossed his. The book includes examinations of Laskin's contribution to legal education and scholarship, as well as to jurisprudence in constitutional law, administrative and labour law, and private law. As well, it provides discussion of Laskin's impact on the Supreme Court of Canada itself.

Table of Contents

Contributors
CHAPTER 1: Introduction - Constance Backhouse

PART ONE: PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER 2: Some Memories of My Father - John I. Laskin
CHAPTER 3: Comments on My Dad - Barbara Laskin

PART TWO: EDUCATOR
CHAPTER 4: Laskin and the University - Martin Friedland
CHAPTER 5: Laskin and the University Crisis of 1949 - Horace Krever

PART THREE: IMPACT ON THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA
CHAPTER 6: Laskin’s Legacy to the Supreme Court - Ian Binnie
CHAPTER 7: Laskin’s Impact on the Supreme Court - Peter W. Hogg
CHAPTER 8: Memories of Laskin at the Court - Sheridan Scott

PART FOUR: SUBSTANTIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO LAW
CHAPTER 9: Laskin’s Legacy to National Unity and Patriation - R. Roy McMurtry
CHAPTER 10: Laskin’s Legacy to Law - J.J. Michel Robert

PART FIVE: ADMINISTRATIVE AND LABOUR LAW
CHAPTER 11: Chief Justice Laskin’s Approach to Administrative Law - Stephen T. Goudge
CHAPTER 12: Laskin’s Contribution to Labour Law - Chris G. Paliare

PART SIX: CONSTITUTIONA LAW, FEDERALISM, AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
CHAPTER 13: Laskin and the Constitutional Protection of Rights and Freedoms - Robert J. Sharpe

PART SEVEN: CONTRACT, TORTS, AND FIDUCIARY OBLIGATIONS
CHAPTER 14: The Laskin Legacy in Private Law: The Judge as Custodian of the Common Law - John D. McCamus
CHAPTER 15: Laskin and Fiduciary Duties - Kathryn N. Feldman

PART EIGHT: LASKIN IN DISSENT
CHAPTER 16: Chief Justice Bora Laskin: The Great Dissenter - Neil Finkelstein

PART NINE: REASSESSMENT: THE NEXT GENERATION
CHAPTER 17: Bora Laskin: Lifting the Legacy from the Legend - Ellen Snow

"Bora Laskin, the man who became one of Canada’s most celebrated chief justices of all time, was born in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario, in 1912. The middle son of impoverished Russian immigrant Jews, he signalled his remarkable talents while still a youth. He graduated as class valedictorian, excelled in athletic competition, mastered Yiddish, English, and Hebrew, and took to debating as effortlessly as he did to the violin. After completing legal degrees at the University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall, and Harvard Law School, Laskin’s career encompassed teaching law at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall, a distinguished labour arbitration practice, and the publication of a substantial body of constitutional law scholarship. His reputation as an influential public intellectual who took principled stands on civil liberties and equality rights brought him to the attention of powerful politicians at a time of growing public criticism over non-meritorious judicial appointments. In 1965 Laskin was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal, an appointment described by one of his biographers as 'virtually unprecedented [for] a non-partisan, an academic, and a Jew.'

Laskin’s elevation to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1970, and his unanticipated appointment as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1973, contributed to the building of the 'Laskin legend.'... His successor as Chief Justice depicted him as a 'great judge' who had 'made a lasting impression on the jurisprudence of our country and a major contribution to Canadian social thought and action.'"

- Constance Backhouse, from the Introduction