OTTAWA — Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appoint the first indigenous jurist to the Supreme Court of Canada, even if it means retreating on the Liberal government’s commitment to appoint only functionally bilingual justices and discarding Atlantic Canada’s traditional seat on the high court. Teillet specializes in indigenous rights law with Pape Salter Teillet LLP, is past vice-president and treasurer of the Indigenous Bar Association and founding president of the Métis Nation Lawyers Association. She has extensive experience on Supreme Court cases. Metallic is the first Mi’kmaq person to serve as a Supreme Court law clerk, specializes in aboriginal law, and human and constitutional rights. “What we’re going to do with this new Supreme Court process is choose the absolute best possible Supreme Court justice to serve Canadians, and keep in mind that we want to make sure that we are representing as many Canadians with that court as we possibly can.”RelatedAn indigenous Supreme Court justice is becoming increasingly necessary, says Neudorf.

Source: National Post September 17, 2016 00:45 UTC