A former puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada spoke to students in POLM 5001 (Institutions and Governance I). Michel Bastarache, who served on the Supreme Court from 1997 until 2008, suggested several reforms that would make the appointment of judges a more open and less political process and that would lead to a more diverse judiciary. He weighed in on debates over whether the Supreme Court has become too powerful in the Charter era and whether judges should be bilingual. Mr. Bastarache is currently with the Ottawa law firm Heenan Blaikie.