Inspiration to Live Your Magic: 75 Inspiring Biographies

Bertha Wilson
Not only did Bertha Wilson become the first woman to serve on the 
Supreme Court of Canada, she also had the courage to make 
groundbreaking judgments, particularly regarding women’s rights.
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It can be very hard to be the first one to do something - to break through a barrier and 
stand out from everyone else.
Bertha Wilson faced that kind of challenge when she became the first woman to serve on 
the Supreme Court of Canada. She became one of Canada’s top judges in 1982, and to 
her surprise, the Court didn’t even have a women’s washroom!
Plenty of people thought that Wilson would not be able to handle the job because she was 
a woman. It didn’t help that she was a soft-spoken person with a charming Scottish 
accent and a reserved manner. How could someone like that be tough enough for the 
Supreme Court? But Bertha Wilson had been a top-notch lawyer and the first woman on 
the Ontario Court of Appeal. Underneath her quiet demeanor, she had a brilliant mind 
and a strong will.
After all, Wilson, who came from a small, working-class town in Scotland, had worked 
her way up to one of the top law firms in Canada, fighting sexism all the way. When she 
had first tried to enroll in law school, the dean had told her to “Go home and take up 
crocheting.”
So, Wilson had earned her way to the Supreme Court by being just as smart and tough as 
any man.

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Soon, she was making the other Supreme Court justices - and the whole country - sit up 
and take notice. She dared to make groundbreaking judgments on issues that no one else 
had dared to touch, especially those regarding women’s rights. Her rulings challenged the 
way that the law treated women in Canada.
When she died in 2007, a newspaper article commented that Bertha Wilson “delivered 
the news Canadians weren’t always ready to hear.” Her inner strength gave her the 
confidence to say what needed to be said, even when it was not easy or pleasant.
Thanks to her belief in herself and in her principles, Wilson proved that women could 
serve well in any court, at any level. Today, she gets credit for breaking the barrier and 
making it possible for other women to reach the highest levels of the legal profession.
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