Congratulations to Michelle O’Bonsawin for successfully defending her PhD thesis

Faculty of Law - Civil Law Section
MD/PhD Program

By Civil law

Communication, Faculty of law

Michelle O'Bonsawin

Her thesis is titled “A Principled Approach: The Mandatory Application of the Gladue Principles at Review Board Hearings”. The thesis was conducted under the supervision of our colleague from the Common Law Section, Dr. Joao Velloso, and the jury unanimously recommended it for an award.

Madam Justice O’Bonsawin is Abenaki and a member of Odanak First Nation, Québec, and the first Indigenous judge named to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa. She is originally from Hanmer in the Sudbury region, perfectly bilingual and actively learning her Abenaki language.

In 2019, Madam Justice O’Bonsawin was inducted into the University of Ottawa’s Common Law Honour Society.

Congratulations Dr. O’Bonsawin!