Brief Biographical Note of Associate Chief Justice Dennis O'Connor

Justice Dennis O’Connor was called to the bar in Ontario in 1966. He practised law until 1973 when he was appointed a magistrate in the Yukon Territory where he served until 1976. From 1976 to 1980, Justice O’Connor taught law at the University of Western Ontario and from 1980 to 1998, he practised a broad range of litigation with Borden, Elliot, a large Toronto law firm. From 1980 to 1984, he acted as the chief negotiator for the Government of Canada for the Yukon Indian Land Claim. He served as an elected bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada (the Province of Ontario) from 1987 to 1995. In 1998, he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal and in 2001 he was appointed Associate Chief Justice of Ontario. In June 2000, he was appointed Commissioner of the Walkerton Inquiry and delivered two reports in the early part of 2002. In February 2004, the Federal Government appointed Justice O’Connor to conduct the Arar Inquiry.