Malcolm H. Rowe (born 1953) is a
Puisne Justice
A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use
The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...
of the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
. Rowe is the first judge from
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
to sit on the Supreme Court.
Early life and education
Rowe was born in 1953 in
St. John’s,
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, to parents who grew up in the province's small fishing communities.
Rowe attended
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...
, where he earned a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
and a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
. He studied at York University's
Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the ''Osgoode Hall La ...
from 1975–78 and graduated with a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
.
Career
Rowe was called to the bar by the
Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador
The Law Society of Newfoundland Labrador founded in 1834 (as Newfoundland Law Society and current name in 1999) is the statutory body charged with the regulation of the legal profession in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Ref ...
in 1978 and
The Law Society of Upper Canada
The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...
(Ontario) in 1986.
Before becoming a judge, Rowe worked in the
Canadian foreign service
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
.
He also started his own private practice in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
that focused on
Canadian constitutional law
Canadian constitutional law () is the area of Canadian law relating to the interpretation and application of the Constitution of Canada by the courts. All laws of Canada, both provincial and federal, must conform to the Constitution and any laws i ...
, foreign affairs, and
arbitration
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...
over maritime boundaries.
He was an adviser for
Progressive Conservative cabinet minister
John Crosbie
John Carnell Crosbie, (January 30, 1931 – January 10, 2020) was a Canadian provincial and federal politician who served as the 12th lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to being lieutenant governor, he served as a pr ...
and
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
cabinet minister
Brian Tobin
Brian Vincent Tobin (born October 21, 1954) is a Canadian businessman and former politician. Tobin served as the sixth premier of Newfoundland from 1996 to 2000. Tobin was also a prominent Member of Parliament and served as a cabinet minister i ...
,
and served as secretary to Newfoundland and Labrador's cabinet after Tobin returned as premier.
He was appointed to the
Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Trial Division) in 1999. He was elevated to the
Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Court of Appeal)
The Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador is at the top of the hierarchy of courts for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Court of Appeal derives its powers and jurisdiction from the Court of Appeal Act.
The independe ...
in 2001,
where he served for 16 years.
Rowe also taught
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
and
constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...
as a lecturer at the
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...
for two years.
Supreme Court of Canada
Rowe was nominated by Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
in October 2016 to sit on the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
, succeeding Justice
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
who retired that September. Rowe is the first judge from Newfoundland and Labrador to sit on the Supreme Court.
Rowe's appointment was the result of a process newly instituted by Trudeau in which any jurist in Canada was invited to apply to a seven-member committee headed by former
Progressive Conservative Prime Minister
Kim Campbell
Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, lawyer, and writer who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada from June 25 to November 4, 1993. Campbell is the first and so far only female p ...
.
Rowe's appointment to the court was effective October 28, 2016,
and he was formally sworn in at a private ceremony on October 31, 2016.
In March 2021, the Supreme Court
found that the federal government's carbon price regime is
constitutional
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
. Rowe was one of three dissenting justices. He concluded that the
federal government's carbon price law was unconstitutional because it interfered with areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction.
Personal life
Rowe was married to
Moya Greene
Dame Moya Marguerite Greene OC, DBE (born 10 June 1954) is a Canadian businesswoman who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Royal Mail until 2018, having previously been CEO of Canada Post.
Early life and education
Moya Marguerite G ...
, with whom he has a grown daughter.
References
External links
Biography at Supreme Court of Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Malcolm
1953 births
Living people
Canadian King's Counsel
Judges in Newfoundland and Labrador
Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada
Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni
Osgoode Hall Law School alumni
People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
University of Ottawa faculty
Canadian civil servants
Canadian company founders
Law firm founders
21st-century Canadian judges