Malcolm H. Rowe (born 1953) is a

Puisne Justice A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to ...

. Rowe is the first judge from

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

to sit on the Supreme Court.

Early life and education

Rowe was born in 1953 in St. John’s,

, to parents who grew up in the province's small fishing communities. Rowe attended Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

and a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

. He studied at York University's

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the ''Osgoode Hall Law ...

from 1975–78 and graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

Career

Rowe was called to the bar by the

Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador The Law Society of Newfoundland Labrador founded in 1834 (as Newfoundland Law Society and current name in 1999) is the statutory body charged with the regulation of the legal profession in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Ref ...

in 1978 and

The Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...

(Ontario) in 1986. Before becoming a judge, Rowe worked in the

Canadian foreign service Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. He also started his own private practice in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

that focused on

Canadian constitutional law Canadian constitutional law () is the area of Canadian law relating to the interpretation and application of the Constitution of Canada by the courts. All laws of Canada, both provincial and federal, must conform to the Constitution and any laws i ...

, foreign affairs, and

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or ' arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ...

over maritime boundaries. He was an adviser for Progressive Conservative cabinet minister

John Crosbie John Carnell Crosbie, (January 30, 1931 – January 10, 2020) was a Canadian provincial and federal politician who served as the 12th lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to being lieutenant governor, he served as a p ...

and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

cabinet minister

Brian Tobin Brian Vincent Tobin (born October 21, 1954) is a Canadian businessman and former politician. Tobin served as the sixth premier of Newfoundland from 1996 to 2000. Tobin was also a prominent Member of Parliament and served as a cabinet minister ...

, and served as secretary to Newfoundland and Labrador's cabinet after Tobin returned as premier. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Trial Division) in 1999. He was elevated to the

Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Court of Appeal) The Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador is at the top of the hierarchy of courts for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Court of Appeal derives its powers and jurisdiction from the Court of Appeal Act. The independe ...

in 2001, where he served for 16 years. Rowe also taught

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

and

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fed ...

as a lecturer at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

for two years.

Supreme Court of Canada

Rowe was nominated by Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

in October 2016 to sit on the

, succeeding Justice

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the kin ...

who retired that September. Rowe is the first judge from Newfoundland and Labrador to sit on the Supreme Court. Rowe's appointment was the result of a process newly instituted by Trudeau in which any jurist in Canada was invited to apply to a seven-member committee headed by former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister

Kim Campbell Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, lawyer, and writer who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada from June 25 to November 4, 1993. Campbell is the first and so far only female ...

. Rowe's appointment to the court was effective October 28, 2016, and he was formally sworn in at a private ceremony on October 31, 2016. In March 2021, the Supreme Court found that the federal government's carbon price regime is

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

. Rowe was one of three dissenting justices. He concluded that the federal government's carbon price law was unconstitutional because it interfered with areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction.

Personal life

Rowe was married to

Moya Greene Dame Moya Marguerite Greene OC, DBE (born 10 June 1954) is a Canadian businesswoman who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Royal Mail until 2018, having previously been CEO of Canada Post. Early life and education Moya Marguerite Gr ...

, with whom he has a grown daughter.

References

External links

Biography at Supreme Court of Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Malcolm 1953 births Living people Canadian King's Counsel Judges in Newfoundland and Labrador Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni Osgoode Hall Law School alumni People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador University of Ottawa faculty Canadian civil servants Canadian company founders Law firm founders 21st-century Canadian judges