Louis-Philippe de Grandpré, (February 6, 1917 – January 24, 2008) was 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 ...

lawyer and

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.

Family and early life

Louis-Philippe de Grandpré was born in

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 ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, to Roland de Grandpré and Aline Magnan. He was one of three brothers, all of whom became gifted, popular lawyers. His brother Jean de Grandpré became Chairman of Bell Canada, and his brother Pierre practised for more than 45 years. De Grandpré received a classical education at

Collège Sainte-Marie de Montréal Collège Sainte-Marie was a college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It ceased to exist in 1969, when it was merged into UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal). History Collège Ste-Marie was founded by Jesuits in 1848. It had an English secto ...

, graduating in 1935. He then studied law at

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 ...

and received a

Bachelor of Civil Law Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL, or B.C.L.; la, Baccalaureus Civilis Legis) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Cam ...

in 1938. De Grandpré was diagnosed with

syringomyelia Syringomyelia is a generic term referring to a disorder in which a cyst or cavity forms within the spinal cord. Often, syringomyelia is used as a generic term before an etiology is determined. This cyst, called a syrinx, can expand and elongate o ...

when he was 29, and from then on he was virtually paralyzed on the right side of his body.

Early legal career

He practised law in Montreal from 1938 and, about eight years after his call to the bar, he co-founded the firm of Tansey, de Grandpré et de Grandpré. From 1972 to 1973, he was president of the

Canadian Bar Association The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers and law students from across Canada. History The Association's first Annual Meeting was he ...

, where he took a position opposing state-controlled legal aid plans.

Supreme Court

He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on January 1, 1974. de Grandpré was the subject of controversy that year when objections were raised to him hearing the case Morgentaler v. The Queen given his prior personal statements about the issue at a 1973 national meeting of the Canadian Bar Association. In the end, the Chief Justice decided that Mr. Justice de Grandpré could remain on the panel to hear the abortion case. By October 1, 1977, he resigned complaining of Chief Justice Bora Laskin's style of running the Court and the direction it was taking on many constitutional matters. In an interview near the end of his life, he said he found the work on the Court dead boring.

Subsequent legal career

After leaving the bench, de Grandpré returned to the practice of law at the firm of Lafleur, Brown, de Grandpré (which later became Gowling Lafleur Henderson), and was seen as a mentor by many lawyers. In 1985, de Grandpré authored a report on judicial independence for the Canadian Bar Association.

Later life and death

In 1971 he was made a Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. In 1998 he was made a Grand Officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governo ...

. He died on January 24, 2008, in Saint-Lambert, leaving behind his wife, four children, eleven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren and a brother. The funeral service was held at Saint-Viateur d'Outremont and he was entombed at the

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

in Montreal. His wife died in 2012.

References

External links

Supreme Court of Canada Biography: Louis-Philippe de Grandpré

Obituary

Globe and Mail obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grandpre, Louis-Philippe De 1917 births 2008 deaths Companions of the Order of Canada Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada Canadian Bar Association Presidents Lawyers from Montreal Canadian King's Counsel McGill University Faculty of Law alumni Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery