Mary Anne Eberts (born January 18, 1947) is a Canadian constitutional lawyer and a former University of Toronto Faculty of Law faculty member. She is a founding member of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)

Early life and education

Eberts was born in

St. Thomas, Ontario St. Thomas is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It gained its city charter on March 4, 1881. The city is also the seat for Elgin County, although it is independent of the county. At the time of the 2021 Census, the population of the city wa ...

. Eberts was educated at

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Career

Eberts taught law at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

(U of T) for six years before joining a

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Stree ...

law firm where she became a

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

. She eventually opened her own law practice in 1980, from where she appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada, Courts of Appeal, and Superior Courts in Ontario. She was influential in the creation of the ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

'' Section 15. She published "''Equality Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms''" in 1985. Eberts eventually returned to U of T as an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...

in 1987 to teach constitutional law. In 1991, Eberts became a litigation counsel to the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC). Eberts represented

Beth Symes Beth Symes, , Queen's University alumna is a Canadian lawyer who fought the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA, formerly known as Revenue Canada) all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada in an unsuccessful attempt to deduct childcare expenses she incurre ...

, another founding LEAF member, in Symes v. Canada,

993 Year 993 ( CMXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – The 12-year-old King Otto III gives the Sword of Saints Cosmas and Damian ...

4 S.C.R. 695. Whereas all legal cases have adversaries by definition, legal scholars have argued that the language of opposition in the Symes case is revealing -- that, although “these men spoke in the rhetoric of institutional constraints, class, and fairness”, their language “still reeks of strategy and self-interest.” In 1993, Eberts received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

. She was subsequently elected a bencher of the

Law Society of Ontario 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 ...

from 1995 until 1999. In 1996, she was a recipient of the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

in Commemoration of the

Persons Case ''Edwards v Canada (AG)''also known as the ''Persons Case'' (french: l'Affaire « personne »)is a famous Canadian constitutional case that decided in 1929 that women were eligible to sit in the Senate of Canada. The legal case was put forward b ...

. She was also a founding member of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF). In 2001, Eberts represented survivors of the

Chinese head tax in Canada The Chinese Head Tax was a fixed fee charged to each Chinese person entering Canada. The head tax was first levied after the Canadian parliament passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 and it was meant to discourage Chinese people from enterin ...

seeking compensation. In 2004, she was appointed the

Gordon F. Henderson Gordon Fripp Henderson, (April 17, 1912 – August 17, 1993) was a Canadian intellectual property lawyer who joined the law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in 1937, and later became its chairman. He was known for his advocacy on intellectual ...

Chair in Human Rights at the University of Ottawa and later became the Ariel Sallows Chair in Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law from 2011 until 2012. After her endowed chair term ended, Eberts joined Hensel Barristers as counsel. Two years later, she joined the faculty at

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 ...

as a McMurty Fellow. In 2017, Eberts was elected an Officer of the Order of Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eberts, Mary Living people People from St. Thomas, Ontario Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian lawyers Canadian women lawyers Lawyers in Ontario Academic staff of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law University of Western Ontario alumni Harvard Law School alumni 1947 births Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case winners