Clément Gascon (born September 5, 1960) is a

Canadian 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 ...

jurist, who was nominated to the Supreme Court of Canada by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on June 3, 2014, and officially appointed the Court on June 9, 2014. He officially retired from the court on September 15, 2019. Born in 1960 to Dr. Bernard Gascon and Denyse Clément, Gascon graduated from

Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf , motto_translation = I chose the path of truth , established = , type = Private secondary school and Collegiate , religious_affiliation = Non-denominational, formerly Jesuit , endowment = , dean ...

and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

. Gascon was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1982 and in addition to his legal practice (in business, labour and construction law) was also a lecturer at Cégep de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Université du Québec à Montreal,

and

Bar of Quebec The Bar of Quebec (french: Barreau du Québec) is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Ca ...

. Prior to his Supreme Court appointment, Gascon served on the Quebec Superior Court from 2002 to 2012, and the

Quebec Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal of Quebec (sometimes referred to as Quebec Court of Appeal or QCA) (in French: ''la Cour d'appel du Québec'') is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada. It hears cases in Quebec City and Montreal. History The Court wa ...

from 2012 to 2014. He was previously a lawyer for the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

law firm

Heenan Blaikie Heenan Blaikie LLP is a defunct Canadian law firm. It practiced in the areas of business, labour and employment, litigation, taxation, entertainment law and intellectual property law. The firm was founded in 1973 by Roy Heenan, Donald Johnston, a ...

for 21 years. In June 2018, Gascon wrote for the majority of the court when it found that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal's determination that the Indian Act did not violate the

Canadian Human Rights Act The ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' (french: Loi canadienne sur les droits de la personne) is a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be vi ...

was reasonable. Three concurring justices instead argued that this context was not due

judicial deference Judicial deference is the condition of a court yielding or submitting its judgment to that of another legitimate party, such as the executive branch in the case of national defense. It is most commonly found in countries, such as the United Kingd ...

and instead required review for correctness. On April 15, 2019, Gascon announced that he would be retiring effective September 15, 2019. On the evening of May 8, 2019, the

Ottawa Police Service The Ottawa Police Service (OPS; French: ''Service de police d'Ottawa'') is a municipal police force in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OPS serves an area of 2,790 square kilometres and 1,017,449 (2021 census) people alongside several other police ...

issued a notice asking for the public's help in locating Gascon, who had not been seen since early the same afternoon. Shortly afterwards, they announced that he had been located safely. Gascon later announced he had had a panic attack, related in part to his recent decision to retire early from the Court.

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1960 births French Quebecers Judges in Quebec Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada Living people McGill University alumni McGill University Faculty of Law alumni People from Montreal 21st-century Canadian judges {{Canada-law-bio-stub McGill University faculty Université du Québec à Montréal faculty

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