What I Wish I Had Told My Children

In this intimate volume, Michel Bastarache reveals details of his youth in Acadia and his multiple professional roles before becoming the first Acadian justice to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada. In a letter addressed to his two children who died from an incurable disease, Me. Bastarache recounts his constant fight for equality between francophone and anglophone communities. He reminisces on his commitment among groups protecting francophones outside Québec, then on his careers as teacher, civil servant, lawyer, and juge. In this story, Bastarache takes the reader backstage to his most important causes and he reveals some of the secrets of the highest court in Canada. Me. Bastarache weighs in on the controversy surrounding the Inquiry Commission on the process for appointing judges of the Court of Québec, as well as his mediator work for reconciliation and compensation of alleged victims of sexual abuse by ex-priests in New Brunswick. Available formats: hardcover, trade paperback, accessible PDF, and accessible ePub

In this beautifully written biography penned by journalist Antoine Trépanier, the Honourable Michel Bastarache recounts his youth in Acadia and the various professional roles he occupied before becoming the first Acadian to accede to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Written as a letter addressed to his two children, who died of an incurable disease, Bastarache recounts his constant fight for equality between francophone and anglophone communities. He reminisces on his commitment among groups protecting francophones outside Québec, then on his careers as teacher, civil servant, lawyer, and judge.

He takes the reader backstage to the most important causes he worked on and reveals some of the secrets of the highest court in Canada. He also weighs in on the controversy surrounding the Inquiry Commission on the process for appointing judges of the Court of Québec, as well as his mediator work for reconciliation and compensation of alleged victims of sexual abuse by ex-priests in New Brunswick.