Marie-France Major
Marie-France is synonymous with Supreme Court of Canada agent. Her experience clerking for Justice LaForest, law degrees from Oxford and Berkeley, and involvement in many recent significant SCC decisions has made her a go-to lawyer.
Bar admission.
Ontario, 1995
Education.
University of California at Berkeley, J.S.D., 1994
University of Oxford, B.C.L., 1987
University of Ottawa, LL.B., 1986
University of Ottawa, B.Sc.Soc., 1983
Details.
Marie-France Major is a partner in the firm. She drafts materials and provides advice and agency services to clients regarding applications, responses, factums and motions for appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada. Marie-France draws on her Doctor of Juridical Science from the University of California at Berkeley and years of experience as a professor of law to provide legal opinions in the areas of Charter, constitutional, human rights, aboriginal, property, municipal and family law. Marie-France is fluent in English and French. In 1989 and 1990, she articled with Mr. Justice G.V. LaForest at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Recent/Notable Cases as SCC Agent:
- Aphria Inc., v. Canada Life Assurance Company, et al., 41665 — Contracts, commercial leases
- Skii km Lax Ha, et al. v. Malii, et al., 41644 — Aboriginal law, aboriginal title
- Hemmings, et al. v. Padmore, et al., 41350 — Torts, professional liability
- R. v. Sheppard, 41126 — Criminal law, sentencing
- Chief of the Edmonton Police Service v. John McKee, et al., 41110 — Criminal law, evidence
- Stephen Emond and Claudette Emond v. Trillium Mutual Insurance Company, 41077 — Insurance, homeowner’s insurance
- Attorney General of Canada v. Richter Inc. (formerly Richter Advisory Group Inc.), et al., 41043 — Bankruptcy and insolvency, priority
- Samir Benchabane v. Syndicat de professionnelles et professionnels du gouvernement du Québec, 41032 — Administrative law, boards and tribunals
- J.W. v. R., 40956 — Criminal law, sentencing
- S. B. v. R., 40873 — Criminal law, sentencing
- Lundin Mining Corporation, et al. v. Dov Markowich, 40853 — Securities, civil procedure
- Opsis Airport Services Inc. v. Attorney General of Québec, et al., 40786 — Constitutional law, interjurisdictional immunity
- Izabela Piekut v. His Majesty the King in Right of Canada as Represented by the Minister of National Revenue, 40782 — Bankruptcy and Insolvency, procedure
- Thalbinder Singh Poonian, et al. v. British Columbia Securities Commission, 40396 —Bankruptcy and Insolvency, debts not released by discharge
- Iris Technologies Inc. v. Attorney General of Canada, 40346 — Administrative law, judicial Review
- Dow Chemical Canada ULC, v. R., 40276 — Courts, jurisdiction
- R. v. Hilbach, 39438 — Constitutional law, Charter of Rights
Recent/Notable Cases As SCC Counsel/Co-Counsel:
- Reference re An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, [2024] 40061 — Aboriginal law, division of powers
- Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. Named Person, [2024] 40371 — Criminal Law, informer privilege
- Jim Shot Both Sides, et al. v. His Majesty the King, [2024] 40153 — Aboriginal law, treaty rights
- Associate Professor (tenured), Faculty of Law; member of the School of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Ottawa, 1995-2001.
- Law Lecturer, Property Law, Course for Lawyers in the Department of Justice of Canada, 1999-2000.
- Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Moncton, New Brunswick, 1987-1989.
- Supreme Court of Canada Manual: Practice and Advocacy (Thomson Reuters, 2011, loose leaf and updated to 2024), Co-author
- “Getting In, Getting Heard, Getting Practical: Intervening in Appellate Courts Across Canada” Advocates Quarterly (2017) 46 Advocates’ Q 3, Co-author
- The Law of Criminal Attempt (Carswell, 3rd ed., 2015), Co-author
- Bullen & Leake & Jacob’s Canadian Precedents of Pleadings (Carswell, 2nd ed., 2013), Co-author
- Supreme Court of Canada Manual (Canada Law Book, 2011), Co-author
- “Going to the ‘Big House’: Your Key Out of the Supreme Court’s Waiting Room” (2010) CBA Canadian Legal Conference
- “The Constitutional Legal Status of Municipalities 1849-2004: Success is a Journey, But Also a Destination” (2007) National Journal of Constitutional Law
- “Conscientious Objection to Military Service: The European Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee” (2002) California Western International Law Journal
- “Reporting to the Human Rights Committee: the Canadian Experience” (2000) The Canadian Yearbook of International Law
- “Comparative Analogies: Sullivan visits the Commonwealth” (1999) Indiana International and Comparative Law Review
- «Neuf à zéro ne suffit plus: Gould c. Yukon Order of Pioneers et la perspective féminine» (1997) Osgoode Hall Law Journal
- “Sexual-Orientation Hate Propaganda: Time To Re-Group” (1996) Canadian Journal of Law and Society
- “American Campus Speech Codes: Models for Canadian Universities?” (1995) Education & Law Journal
- “Conscientious Objection and International Law: A Human Right?” (1993) Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law
- “Obscene Comparisons? Canadian and American Attitudes Toward Pornography Regulation” (1993) Journal of Contemporary Law, U.S.A.