Julius Alexander Isaac

Legal luminary Julius Isaac was the first Black person to sit on the Federal Court of Canada. Born in Grenada, Isaac came to Canada to study at U of T, taking jobs as a maintenance person and railway porter to pay for his arts and law degrees. He practised law in Ontario and Saskatchewan, earning the esteemed designation of Queen’s Counsel and later serving on the Supreme Court of Ontario. In 1991, Isaac was appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court by former prime minister Brian Mulroney. Upon his death in 2011, he held several honorary doctorates as well as the Silver Jubilee Award of Grenada.