Leonard Marchand was named as the first Indigenous person to be appointed as the chief justice for the Court of Appeals in British Columbia.
VICTORIA, B. C.-In December, Leonard Marchand was named as the first Indigenous person to be appointed as the chief justice for the Court of Appeal in British Columbia. He will also serve as chief justice on the Yukon Court of Appeal.
A member of the Okanagan Indian Band, part of the Syilx Nation, Marchand began his practice as a lawyer in Kamloops, B.C., where his practice included pursuing civil claims of historic child abuse in institutional settings, and he represented many residential school survivors. He was a negotiator of and signatory to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and was on the oversight committee for the independent assessment process-which was established to distribute funds for claims of sexual abuse and other wrongdoing suffered by former students. Marchand also served on the selection committee for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Marchand has been a judge since 2013. First, he served on the Provincial Court until 2017, when he was elevated to the Supreme Court. In 2021, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal. Chief justices and associate chief justices oversee the leadership and administration of the court and serve as members of the Canadian Judicial Council, which regulates the conduct of superior court judges across Canada.
Marchand noted a special tie with the Yukon chief justice role. "I have a personal connection to the Yukon that dates back to June of 1999 when a group of women in the Yukon were looking for a First Nations lawyer to help them with residential school claims," he told a CBC interviewer. "I traveled to their communities and they did me the great honor of trusting me with their very personal and harrowing experiences at residential school. I worked very hard to advance their claims along the way and I learned many lessons that honestly changed the trajectory of my life."
In ways, Leonard Marchand carries on the legacy of his father. Marchand is the son of the Honourable Len Marchand, who had a distinguished career in Parliament, in Cabinet, and in the Senate before retiring in 1998.
Len Marchand advocated for a stronger role for First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canadian political life. He was the first and only First Nations person to be elected to the House of Commons from British Columbia and he was elected three times. In Ottawa, he was appointed as a parliamentary secretary, as a minister of state and as Minister of the Environment.
Marchand Sr. influenced Canadian policy from the inside advocating for justice for all First Nations. He worked to make Canada a better place at a time when institutions did not include First Nations in their considerations. He also helped establish one of BC's first Aboriginal drug and alcohol treatment centres.
Though Canada has come a long way since Len Marchard's days of advocacy, Leonard Marchand notes that the country still has a long way to go. When asked by CBC interviewer Elyn Jones about the significance of being the first Indigenous chief justice in B.C., Marchand responded, "Including First Nations people in the justice system is really, critically important to the proper functioning of the system and also for reconciliation. For far too long, government policies have both legislated exclusion and legislated assimilation.
"As a result, the justice system has a major credibility gap to overcome in many Indigenous communities. . . Part of the process of reconciliation is incorporating Indigenous voices and Indigenous values into the justice system. Part of that value is an educational one. Actors in the justice system are learning about different cultures. BC Attorney General Niki Sharma noted, "With an accomplished career spanning decades, Chief Justice Marchand has consistently demonstrated a commitment to upholding the principles of fairness, integrity and the rule of law. He has dedicated much of his career to advancing reconciliation for Indigenous people.", traditions, histories, legal orders . . . There's the little things that we need to do to encourage people to come forward when they've been a victim of crime, to participate as a witness in a trial, to respond to jury notice and serve on a jury. We have to find a better way to invite people in."
