The Honourable John D. Richard will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, in recognition of outstanding contribution to public life in defence of the independence of the judiciary and service to Carleton University.
The Honourable John D. Richard graduated from the University of Ottawa with a degree in Political Science in 1955 and from the Osgoode Hall Law School in 1959. He was called to the Ontario Bar the same year. In 1960, he graduated from Louvain University in Belgium with a Licentiate in Political and Social Sciences.
He practised law with Gowling & Henderson from 1960 to 1988 and with Lang Michener from 1988 to 1994. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1976, and Judge of the Federal Court of Canada in 1994. In 1999, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada. With a change in the law in 2003, he became the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal and served there until he retired in 2009.
He had been involved in many charitable and philanthropic organizations prior to his appointment to the judiciary. He served on Carleton’s Board of Governors from 1982 to 1990, where he contributed significantly to fundraising efforts and served on the Personnel Committee dealing with mandates for negotiations with faculty and staff unions. He lectured in public law at Carleton in the 1960s.
In 2009, he was made the Honorary Chairperson of Reach Canada, a non-governmental organization that helps people with disabilities to get legal help.