Peter deCarteret Cory, (October 25, 1925 – April 7, 2020) was a

puisne judge Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) 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 between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

, from 1989 to 1999.

Early life and education

Born in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

, the son of Andrew and Mildred (Beresford Howe) Cory, he was educated at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

(Assumption) receiving his BA in 1947 and at

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

receiving his law degree in 1950. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1950.

Career

As a pilot in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

, he served overseas with 6th Bomber Group during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, flying many combat missions. He was appointed to the

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1963. He practised law with Holden, Murdoch and was elected a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1971. Cory was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1974, the

Court of Appeal for Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently mistakenly referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal) (ONCA is the abbreviation for its neutral citation) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Ha ...

in 1981 and the Supreme Court of Canada on February 1, 1989. He retired from the Supreme Court on June 1, 1999.

Post-Court

He served as the 11th Chancellor of

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

from 2004 to 2008. He was an Honorary Colonel of the 426 Transport Training Squadron. In 2002, Cory was made a Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. Following his retirement, Cory was appointed to conduct an independent inquiry into six particular deaths during "

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

" in Northern Ireland. The Cory Collusion Inquiry was established to investigate allegations of collusion between security forces and paramilitaries in those cases.

Personal life

Cory was married to Edith Nash and had three children. He was a Mississaugan as of 2002. Cory was chairman of the Ontario Civil Liberties Section of the

Canadian Bar Association The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada. History The Association's first Annual Meeting was ...

("CBA"), president of the County of York Law Association, national director of the CBA and president of the Advocates' Society. He died in Mississauga on April 7, 2020.

References

External links

* * * Elizabeth Raymer,
Former Supreme Court justice Peter Cory dead at 94
, ''Canadian Lawyer'', 13 April 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cory, Peter 1925 births Chancellors of York University Communications Security Establishment people Companions of the Order of Canada Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada Justices of the Court of Appeal for Ontario Lawyers in Ontario 2020 deaths Osgoode Hall Law School alumni People from Windsor, Ontario University of Western Ontario alumni Canadian King's Counsel