- The Honourable Bernadette Clement, Senator LLB ’88, LLL ‘87
- Yves Le Bouthillier, LLB ’84
- The Honourable Maria Linhares de Sousa, LLB ’76
Bernadette Clement LLB ’88, LLL ‘87 is a legal aid lawyer and politician. She was the first woman to be elected as mayor of Cornwall, Ontario, and the first Black woman to serve as a mayor in Ontario. Prior to this, she served three terms as a city councillor.
She was appointed to the Senate on June 22, 2021, representing Ontario. She continues to live in Cornwall, where she remains connected with her community.
Senator Clement is proud of her complex intersectional identity: her francophone mother grew up in Manitoba and her centenarian anglophone father grew up in Trinidad. As a bilingual Canadian, Senator Clement is a proud advocate for this country’s linguistic plurality – French, English, and Indigenous language rights and revitalization.
A passionate speaker, Bernadette intervenes in committee study and Senate debate most often in defense of marginalized groups. She is also eager to connect youth and other Canadians with the Senate through social media, community events, and speaking engagements.
Senator Clement joined the Independent Senators Group after her appointment, and since December 2022, has served as Chamber Coordinator – which combines her interests in rules and procedure with her love of politics.
Bernadette holds degrees in Civil Law and Common Law from the University of Ottawa. In 1991, after being called to the Bar of Ontario, she moved to Cornwall and started her legal career with the non-profit Roy McMurtry Legal Clinic, where she still works part-time. She worked as a lawyer, before serving as Deputy Director for 16 years, and Executive Director for four years.
Senator Clement continues to practice law, focusing on representing injured workers. She is an ardent advocate for marginalized groups and, over the course of her career, has volunteered with Maison Baldwin House, Kinsmen Community Residence, Cornwall and District Immigrant Services Agency, and Inspire Community Support Services.
Bernadette also taught Ethics and Legalities to health care students at St. Lawrence College from 2001 to 2005. She is a member of the Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario and the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Law Association. She is a recipient of a Cornwall District and Labour Council award for outstanding service to injured workers and a Legal Aid Ontario GEM award for outstanding achievement.
Professor Yves Le Bouthillier LLB ’84 joined the French Common Law Program (FCLP) in 1987, a few years after it was established. His longstanding major contributions to the program have made him part of the foundation on which it has been built and has developed its distinct identity.
An expert in several areas of law, both international and public, Professor Le Bouthillier has taught 16 different courses during his career. Along with Professor Delphine Nakache, he has co-edited reference works on citizenship law. He has held many leadership positions, both within and outside the Faculty. He was vice-dean of the FCLP on three separate occasions, as well as co-director of the secretariat of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Academy of Environmental Law for many years, along with Professor Jamie Benidickson. He was president of the Law Commission of Canada, a member of the Board of Governors of the Law Commission of Ontario and vice-president of the Canadian Council on International Law.
From August 2000 to June 2002, Professor Le Bouthillier was scholar-in-residence in the Economic, Oceans and Environmental Law Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. In 2001, he was part of the negotiating team that received the Head of the Public Service Award for its contribution to the development and adoption of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Prior to that, from 1999 to 2000, he was responsible for human rights projects at the Agence de la Francophonie in Paris.
In 2008, the Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario named him to its Order of Merit for his contribution to the promotion and improvement of legal services in French in Ontario.
The Honourable Maria Linhares de Sousa LLB ’76 was born in Portugal and immigrated to Canada with her family in 1954. She completed her primary and secondary education in Toronto and obtained a BA and MA from the University of Toronto in history. In 1973, she moved to Ottawa to pursue her legal studies at the Common Law Section of the University of Ottawa.
After graduating cum laude in 1976, she articled for Bell, Baker, Oyen and Webber. Immediately following her call to the Bar in 1978, she served for one year as law clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario, the Honourable Gregory Evans.
In 1979, Maria was appointed as a Family Law Commissioner and Official Referee for the Supreme Court of Ontario. She presided over family law references and exercised dispute resolution in the family law matters before the Court.
In 1989, Maria was appointed to the criminal division of the Ontario Provincial Court where she presided, in both official languages, over criminal matters and eventually, family and child protection matters when the Ontario Court of Justice was created, known as the Justice Heidi Levenson Polowin Course in Child Protection.
In 1999, when the Family Division of the Superior Court of Justice was established in Ottawa, Maria was appointed to that Division, presiding primarily over all areas of family law and child protection as well as criminal and civil matters, until her retirement in November 2019.
During her judicial career, Maria took a particular interest in judicial education and participated in, and led, many judicial education programs, both nationally and internationally.
In 2011-2012, during a sabbatical, she created and taught the first complete stand-alone child protection course to be offered at the Common Law Section, which continues to be taught today.
Since her retirement and following the pandemic, Maria has been trying to put a dent in the long list of books she planned to read but couldn’t because of work demands. She has also taken courses at the University of Ottawa and St. Paul’s University in areas of personal interest such as ethics, philosophy, and theology. She has also been involved in some volunteer work, acting for that last four years as the Safe Environment Coordinator for Notre Dame Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall and fundraising for such worthy causes as the Ottawa Mission through The Coldest Night of the Year, a winter family-friendly walk in support of local charities serving people experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness.
Maria says that having the leisure and capacity to pursue these interests since her retirement has been a blessing.
Thank you to the 2024 Honours Society Selection Committee:
- Kristen Boon, Susan & Perry Dellelce Dean
- Katie Black LLB ’09, 2017 Honour Society Inductee
- Alan D’Silva LLB ’87, 2015 Honour Society Inductee
- Philippe David LLB ’85
- Josephine Palumbo LLB ’91
- Mark Power LLB ’02
- Karen Restoule JD ’12, 2014 Honour Society Inductee)
Inductees will be formally honoured at a special event in the Fall.