Bastarache, Michel, << BAS tuh rash, mee SHEHL >> (1947-…), served as a puisne (associate) justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1997 to 2008. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed him to the court. Prior to his appointment, Bastarache served on the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, the highest court in that province. He specialized in constitutional and education law.
Bastarache was born on June 10, 1947, in Quebec City, Quebec. In 1970, he earned a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Montreal. He then worked as a legal translator for the New Brunswick government in 1970 and 1971. In 1972, Bastarache received a graduate degree in public law from the University of Nice in France. In 1978, he earned a second bachelor’s degree in law, this time from the University of Ottawa. Bastarache was admitted to the New Brunswick Bar—that is, the body of lawyers licensed to practice law in that province—in 1980.
From 1978 to 1987, Bastarache held academic and administrative posts at the University of Moncton in New Brunswick, and at the University of Ottawa. In the early 1980’s, he briefly worked in the Department of the Secretary of State, where he directed efforts to promote the equality of the English and French languages in Canada. Bastarache was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1985 and the Ontario Bar in 1986. During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, he worked at private law firms in Ottawa and Moncton and served as president and chief executive officer of the Assumption Mutual Life Insurance Company in Moncton. He was appointed to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in 1995. From 1998 to 2005, Bastarache also served as editor in chief of the Canadian Bar Review.
