1. John Sopinka was a Canadian lawyer and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada, the first Ukrainian-Canadian appointed to the high court.
13 Facts About John Sopinka
1. 2.
John Sopinka completed secondary school at Saltfleet High School in Stoney Creek.
3.
John Sopinka earned Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees at the University of Toronto where he was a member of the Toronto chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
4.
John Sopinka was drafted in the sixth round of the 1955 CFL draft.
5.
John Sopinka played with the Toronto Argonauts and then the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
6.
John Sopinka was designated Queen's Counsel in 1975 and was a lecturer at both the Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
7.
John Sopinka authored several books on the law, including a leading text on the law of evidence.
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Sinclair Stevens 8.
John Sopinka was involved with several high-profile cases, including acting on behalf of Susan Nelles when she sued the government of Ontario and the Toronto police for malicious prosecution after the withdrawal of charges against her for murdering babies at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
9.
John Sopinka served as counsel to the William Parker Inquiry that looked into the conduct of former cabinet minister Sinclair Stevens.
10.
John Sopinka died in Ottawa on November 24,1997, of a blood disease.
11.
The John Sopinka Courthouse has 18 courtrooms, accommodating Hamilton's civil, criminal, and small claims courts.
12.
In 2000, the volume Ruled by Law: Essays in Memory of Mr Justice John Sopinka was published as a special edition of the Supreme Court Law Review.
13.
Many of the contributors were former law clerks of John Sopinka who had gone on to become law professors.