Patricia Jackson has built a career arguing some of Canada's most high-profile and complex legal battles - all while advancing civil liberties and education behind the scenes.
Renowned for her work as a litigator at one of Bay Street's top law firms, Jackson is known for her sharp advocacy, commitment to issues of freedom of expression and her decades of volunteer service to the University of Toronto and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Today, for her achievements as one of Canada's leading lawyers and for her outstanding service to the university, Jackson will receive a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from the University of Toronto.
Jackson excelled at math as a child, and, after high school, considered following in the footsteps of her father, Syd Jackson, then president and CEO of Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. But he talked her out of becoming an actuary. "He wasn't particularly encouraging - and on the whole he was an extremely encouraging father," she told the Law Times in 2009 .
She enrolled in the chemistry program at Queen's University, but switched to math and political science after realizing she didn't like laboratory work. After graduating, Jackson worked as a researcher at Queen's Park for a special commission created by Premier Bill Davis's government.
When the commission's work ended two years later, she enrolled at U of T's Faculty of Law. Called to the bar in 1988, Jackson says she was grateful to have chosen law over actuarial science. The law, she noted, allowed her, "to think broadly in policy and advocacy terms about a range of subjects. All of those things were always of interest to me."
At first, she didn't imagine she would stay in the profession long-term. She expected to article "and maybe practise for a little while," she says. But the variety of work kept her interested. "Particularly as a litigation lawyer, the cases vary enormously," she told the Law Times.
The first case she worked on - a $42-million defamation action against the Financial Post - was the largest of its kind in Canadian history at the time. As the junior lawyer on the case, Jackson read all she could of the Canadian and U.K. case law on the subject. Her preparation - and the exposure the case received - led to new work opportunities, particularly representing Canadian media organizations.
The experience also deepened her commitment to issues of freedom of expression, an area she would champion throughout her career. Jackson has appeared before every level of court in Ontario, as well as the Federal Court and Supreme Court of Canada.
Beyond the courtroom, she has worked as counsel for administrative tribunals and government commissions, including the inquiry into the Kingston Prison for Women, led by then-Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Louise Arbour.
Originally formed to investigate a disturbance and subsequent mistreatment of prisoners, the inquiry was broadened to examine conditions more generally of women incarcerated in federal prisons. Arbour chose Jackson as commission counsel due to her reputation as a "fierce" litigator. The resulting Arbour Report, released in 1996, led to significant reforms.
Jackson has a distinguished record in civil liberties, too. As a longtime board member of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, she advocated at the Supreme Court of Canada for freedom of expression, including in a landmark case involving the Little Sisters bookstore in Vancouver. That decision limited Canada Customs' ability to pre-emptively detain imported materials that had not been deemed obscene by Canadian courts.
She has also contributed extensively to U of T, serving on the University Tribunal for more than four decades and as senior chair for 20 years. The quasi-judicial body is responsible for hearing matters covered by U of T's Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters and determining appropriate sanctions.
She has written many of the tribunal's most important decisions and led significant initiatives that have bolstered the university's steadfast commitment to fairness and justice, setting an example for the Canadian post-secondary sector. That includes paying special attention to self-represented students and those who speak a language other than English to ensure due process, freedom of expression and protection of civil liberties - a focus that's never been more important than it is today.
In doing so, Jackson's efforts have directly and indirectly touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of students and alumni around the globe by defending the integrity and value of a U of T degree.
As part of her commitment to legal education and professional standards, Jackson has served as a director of The Advocates' Society and the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund Foundation, as well as a past member of the Ontario Judicial Council. In 2009, she received the prestigious Law Society Medal for her exceptional contributions to the profession and, in 2015, the Ontario Bar Association recognized her with the Award for Excellence in Civil Litigation.
