An interview with the Honourable Justice Ian Binnie

The Honourable Ian Binnie received an LL.B. from Cambridge University in 1963 and an LL.B. from the University of Toronto in 1965. He practiced litigation at Wright and McTaggart and its successor firms between 1965 and 1982 and then served as Associate Deputy Minister of Justice for Canada until 1986. He was a senior partner with McCarthy Terault from 1986 until his elevation to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1998. He retired from the Court in 2011. Over the course of his distinguished career, Mr. Binnie served as legal counsel to the Government of Tanzania, represented Canada before the International Court of Justice, argued before courts in most Canadian provinces, appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court on many significant cases, and, while on the top court, authored numerous landmark decisions. The Ottawa Law Review's Michelle Bloodworth, Linden Gregory and Cigdem Iltan met with Mr. Binnie at the University of Ottawa. In this interview, Mr. Binnie offers insights derived from the breadth of his vast experience in law and discusses his hopes for, and concerns about, the future of the legal profession and the development of Canadian law.