Frank Iacobucci

Frank Iacobucci, CC (born June 29, 1937) was a Puisne Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 to 2004 when he retired from the bench. He is an expert in business and tax law.

Early life and education

The son of Italian immigrants, Iacobucci was born in Vancouver, where he attended Britannia Secondary School. He received a B.Comm. and LL.B. from the University of British Columbia and an LL.M. from the University of Cambridge. While attending the University of British Columbia, he became a brother of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI).

Career

Iacobucci practiced corporate law in New York City and then served as a professor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law from 1967 until 1982 as well as Dean of the law faculty from 1979 until 1982. He also served as Vice-President and Provost of the university from 1983 to 1985. He entered the public service as Deputy Minister of Justice in the federal government from 1985 to 1988 when he was appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court. In 1991, Justice Iacobucci was appointed as Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada by Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney and served in this capacity until retiring in 2004.

Retirement from court

Following his retirement from the Supreme Court, Iacobucci was appointed Interim President of the University of Toronto in 2004 and served in that post until he was replaced by David Naylor in October 2005. In September of that same year he joined Torys LLP, as Counsel, and since 2005 has been the Chair of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.^[1] He is the Chair of the Dean's Advisory Committee for the National Centre for Business Law at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law.^[2]

He sits on a number of board of directors including Torstar, publisher of the Toronto Star and a series of smaller newspapers and owner of Harlequin Enterprises, a global publisher of popular romance novels. Iacobucci is the former chairman of Torstar.^[3]

Iacobucci served as the commissioner of an internal inquiry into the alleged torture of three Arab-Canadians in Syria and Egypt as the personal appointee of Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.^[4][5][6] He also chairs the selection committee for commissioners of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

On August 11, 2011, Ontario announced Iacobucci's appointment to "review the process for including individuals living in First Nations reserve communities on the (Ontario's) jury rolls," following concerns from First Nation organizations and jurists about Aboriginal people being under-represented on juries in Ontario.^[7][8] The report, released in February, 2013, determined under-representation of individuals living on reserves on Ontario's jury roll to be a symptom of a crisis. He expressed hope his report would serve as a wake-up call to remedy broader and systemic issues that are at the heart of the current dysfunctional relationship between Ontario's justice system and Aboriginal peoples in the province. In addition to 17 specific recommendations, Iacobucci emphasized the need for establishing a government-to-government relationship that "incorporates an underlying respect for cultural, traditional, and historical values that are different." He stated "this government-to-government relationship . . . must underlie the relationship between Ontario and First Nations going forward in dealing with justice and jury representation issues."

On August 28, 2013, in response to the July 27, 2013 shooting death of Sammy Yatim by Toronto Police officer James Forcillo, Iacobucci was requested by Chief of Police Bill Blair to conduct an independent review of "the policies, practices, and procedures of, and the services provided by, the TPS with respect to the use of lethal force or potentially lethal force, in particular in encounters with persons who are or may be emotionally disturbed, mentally disturbed or cognitively impaired.". On July 24, 2014, the "Police Encounters with People in Crisis – An Independent Review Conducted by The Honourable Frank Iacobucci for Chief of Police William Blair, Toronto Police Service" report was delivered and was released to the public by Chief Blair. The 400+ page report made 84 recommendations pertaining to the mental health system and Toronto Police and focusing on police culture, training, supervision, and selection of new officers, the mental health of police personnel, use of force, crisis intervention, and equipment, along with suggestions surrounding implementation of the reports recommendations.^[9] The report, originally arranged by Blair under his authority as Chief, without Toronto Police Services Board approval, was contracted through the Toronto law firm of Torys LLP for the $500,000.00 maximum funding amount the Chief was authorized to approve without Board approval; in May 2014, after the majority of the work had been performed, the Chief requested, and the Board ultimately approved, the revised cost for the report of $985,000.00.^[10]

Awards

Iacobucci has been given honorary degrees from a number of Canadian schools, and is also an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. In 1999 he was made an Honorary Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. On June 9, 2008, Iacobucci was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by McMaster University.

The Frank Iacobucci Centre for Italian Canadian Studies at the University of Toronto was named in his honour.

In 2007, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.^[11]

In 2009, Iacobucci received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Canada.^[12]

See also

• Reasons of the Supreme Court of Canada by Justice Iacobucci

References

External links

• Supreme Court of Canada biography
• Torys profile