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.