Emmett Matthew Hall

The Honourable Mr. Justice Emmett Hall

Emmett Matthew Hall CC , QC , LL.B , LL.D (November 9 1898 - November 11 1995) was a Canadian jurist and civil libertarian and is considered one of the fathers of the Canadian system of Medicare.

Hall was born in Quebec but moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1910 when his family took over a dairy farm. He received his law degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1919 and practised as a defence lawyer for a number of years before being appointed to the bench. He became chief justice of the Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan in 1957 and chief justice of Saskatchewan in 1961. In 1962 he became a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and served on the high court until his retirement in 1973.

Hall chaired a royal commission on the national health system in 1964 that recommended the nationwide adoption of Saskatchewan's model of public health insurance. His recommendations led to the establishment of Canada's national medicare system. He also chaired numerous other royal commissions into education, court structure and grain handling, most notably the 1968 Committee on Aims and Objectives of Education which issued the Hall-Dennis Report which recommended adapting education to the stages of child development.

In 1967 his was the sole dissent in the Supreme Court 8 to 1 judgement upholding the 1959 conviction of Steven Truscott.

In 1974 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

External links

• Order of Canada Citation
• Supreme Court Biography

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