Marie Deschamps


Marie Deschamps, is a former puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada. She retired on August 7, 2012.

Early life

Deschamps was born in Repentigny, Quebec.

Education

She studied law at the Université de Montréal, graduating in 1974 and completing a Masters in 1983 at McGill.

Career

Legal and judicial

She was called to the bar in 1975 and then practiced at several Quebec law firms until 1990.
In April 1990 Deschamps was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court and in March 1992 to the Quebec Court of Appeal. She was promoted to the Supreme Court of Canada in September 2002, at the age of 49, as the 75th judge appointed to the Supreme Court. She retired from the court on August 7, 2012.
On October 2, 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper nominated Richard Wagner to the Supreme Court of Canada to replace her.
In 2014, the Government of Canada named Justice Deschamps to conduct an external review into sexual assault in the Canadian Forces. The report was published on March 27, 2015.

Academic

Deschamps has taken on several academic posts:

NSIRC

In September, 2019, Deschamps was made a member of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Honours

In 2013, she was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada "for her numerous contributions as a jurist and for her dedication to youth development".

Personal

At the time of her appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada, Deschamps was noted as also being a marathon runner. Her common law spouse, Paul Gobeil, was a former member of the Quebec National Assembly, who had served in the cabinet of Premier Robert Bourassa.