Bowman holds court as new judge

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This article was published 01/03/2024 (679 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Winnipeg mayor Brian Bowman was in Charleswood, picking up ribs from the White House restaurant, with his two sons last December when he answered what he feared was a career-ending cellphone call.

Bowman, until recently vice-president of sustainability and social impact at Canada Life Assurance Co., said he picked up the call, thinking it was from his boss in Ontario.

Instead, it was a man who “advised me I was no longer a member of the bar. I said, well I can’t say what I said, but I thought: I’ve been disbarred! Wait until (my wife) Tracy hears this,” Bowman joked to friends, family and colleagues who had gathered in a Winnipeg courtroom as he was sworn in Friday as the latest addition to Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench. (Judges are not technically members of the bar.)

Bowman choked up at least once as he addressed the filled-to-capacity courtroom after an hour of accolades and gentle ribbing.

“It’s kind of like a ‘This is Your Life’ moment to look out and see so many friends from so many facets of my life,” now Justice Brian Bowman said. “I’ve never felt more grateful than I do today.”

Bowman, Winnipeg’s mayor from 2014 to 2022, said he never considered a future on the bench until midway through his second term when he announced he would not seek re-election.

“Literally the next day, I got a call from then-chief justice of the Manitoba Court of Appeal, Richard Chartier, a friend and someone I deeply respect,” Bowman said.

“He called me to suggest I consider trying to serve in this new capacity when I was done in politics. He stressed to me that this might afford me the opportunity to leverage some skills and knowledge of our community that I gained in public office in a different way and one that tapped into my legal training… The more that we talked and the more that I talked to other judges about the role of a judge, I became more intrigued and motivated about the possibility.”

Among the more than 150 attendees in the courtroom were Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand, provincial Justice Minister Matt Wiebe, and Premier Wab Kinew, who praised Bowman as a “tremendous asset to our society and our community.”

“Nowhere did I see that more clearly than on the day Maclean’s magazine put out a cover (in January 2015) calling our city the most racist city in Canada,” Kinew said.

Bowman, mayor at the time, “could have responded in many ways… but what I remember, was now Justice Bowman showing us that his inclination was to bring people together,” Kinew said. “He called political leaders from different political stripes, he called community leaders from different walks life, and people like myself, basically concerned citizens, together.. and asked us: how do we respond to this allegation being made about our community?”

“I know Mr. Bowman shared some tears on that day. It was in that time that I saw the deep pride that he held for our community… and yet also the spirit of wanting to be able to answer and respond on behalf of our brothers and sisters. Here we are a decade later, a First Nation premier paying tribute to a Métis justice.”

King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, who presided over the ceremony, said Bowman’s expertise in the area of privacy law, access to information and technology “will serve this court very well indeed as we continue to transition” to a post-pandemic world.

“Justice Bowman’s legal experience coupled with his time in public office will undoubtedly provide our court with a strong champion for the open-court principle and the always present need to carefully balance transparency with the protection of (individuals),” Joyal said.

As a Métis man, Bowman “can share not only his lived experience… but his practical experience implementing initiatives that foster reconciliation and tackle systemic racism,” Joyal said.

Bowman said he’s “proud to break new ground” as Winnipeg’s first Indigenous mayor, “but here at court, I’m not the first Indigenous judge, I’m not even the first Métis judge, and I think that’s awesome,” he said.

Joyal was among many speakers to joke about Bowman’s well-known reputation as an energetic schmoozer.

“Apparently, when not in court he can be found at the front entrance or sometimes wandering the halls, smiling broadly, ferociously shaking hands and greeting litigants and counsels, solicitously asking about their kids (and) if they are satisfied with their snow removal,” Joyal jibed with mock-seriousness.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca