The Honourable Mr. Justice Charles Doherty Gonthier (August 1, 1928), B.A., B.C.L. was a Puisne Judge on the Supreme Court of Canada from February 1, 1989 to August 1, 2003. He was replaced by Morris Fish.

Early life

Gonthier was born in Montréal, Quebec to Georges Gonthier and Kathleen Doherty.

Education

He was educated at École Garneau, Ottawa then at Collège Stanislas, Montréal (baccalauréat Paris), eventually earning his B.C.L. at McGill University in 1951 (first class honours). Hon. LL.D., McGill University, 1990. D.H.C., Université de Montréal, 2002. Married in 1961 to Mariette Morin, M.D., M.Sc., F.R.C.S.(C), F.A.C.O.G.

Legal Career

Called to the Bar of Quebec, 1952. He practised law in Montréal with Hackett, Mulvena & Laverty, 1952-57 and then with Hugessen, Macklaier, Chisholm, Smith & Davis, later known as Laing, Weldon, Courtois, Clarkson, Parsons, Gonthier & Tétrault, 1957-74.

He was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court on October 17, 1974. Later he was appointed to the Quebec Court of Appeal on May 24, 1988 and finally to the Supreme Court of Canada on February 1, 1989. Gonthier retired on August 1, 2003.

Awards and Accomplishments

• Appointed Q.C., 1971.
• Member of the Board of the Montréal Legal Aid Bureau, 1959-69.
• President of Junior Bar of Montréal, 1960-61.
• President of Junior Bar Section of the Canadian Bar Association, 1961-62.
• Member of the Board of Montréal Bar, 1961-62. Secretary of the Quebec Division of the Canadian Bar Association, 1963-64.
• Member of the Committee on Building Contracts of the Quebec Civil Code Revision Office, 1969-72.
• Member of the Committee on Discipline of the Bar of Quebec, 1973-74.
• President of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, 1986-87.
• President of the Canadian Judges Conference, 1988-89.
• Chairman of the Commission for National Judges of the First World Conference on the Independence of Justice in Montréal, 1983.
• President of l'Association des anciens du Collège Stanislas, 1954-55.
• Secretary of the Montréal Branch of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, 1957-58.
• Chairman of the Board of Collège Stanislas, 1984-90.
• Honorary Secretary of the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, 1961-76.
• Member of the Board of Directors of the McCord Museum of Canadian History, 1976-89.
• Knight of l'Ordre des palmes académiques - France, 1988.
• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers (hon.), 1996.
• Fellow, Canadian Bar Association, 2003.
• Lifetime member, Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice. Bar of Montreal Medal, 2003.

Source

• Office Supreme Court bio