Today is the launch of a new #HeritageMinute about Bora Laskin (1912-1984), the first Jewish Supreme Court Chief Justice. Bora Laskin was born on 5 October 1912 in Fort William (now Thunder Bay) and moved to Toronto in 1930 to study at the University of Toronto. He experienced pervasive anti-Semitism in the legal profession following graduation, but in 1940 he was offered a teaching position in the law faculty of the university. In 1965, he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal, making him the court’s first Jewish justice where he gained reputation as a champion of civil liberties. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau appointed him to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1970, and in 1973 appointed him as Chief Justice. Bora Laskin was made a Companion of the Order of Canada “for his service to our country, most notably as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada” on 13 March 1984, and he passed away in the same year. In 1991, the University of Toronto's main law library was named ...