Hon. Lorne Clarke

The only child of James Clarke and Vila Hartling, he was born in Malagash, Cumberland County, in 1928. He graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1951. He was admitted to the Bar of Nova Scotia in 1953. He received a Master of Laws Degree from Harvard University in 1955. He joined the Faculty of Law at Dalhousie in 1952 where he taught various courses until 1959.

From 1959 until 1981 Chief Justice Clarke practiced law in Truro with Patterson Smith Matthews & Grant. While maintaining a large general practice, he developed a reputation both locally and nationally as an arbitrator, mediator, conciliator and industrial inquiry commissioner in numerous labour-management and commercial disputes. He was Secretary to the Royal Commission on Workmen’s Compensation from 1957 to 1958 and became the Secretary to the Compensation (Fishing Industry) from 1961 to 1962. Although dedicated to the law, Chief Justice Clarke also served his profession and community. Professionally he was a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society (serving on Council from 1964 to 1966), the Canadian Bar Association, the National Academy of Arbitrators, the Society of Professionals in Dispute resolution and the Nova Scotia Law Reform Advisory Commission from 1971 to 1979. His community service included associations and memberships with the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Kiwanis Club.

Chief Justice Clarke was appointed as a Judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Trial Division, on February 26th, 1981. Within a year of his appointment, he was elected Secretary of the Canadian Judge’s Conference. On August 22nd, 1985, he became the 20th Chief Justice of the Appeal Division of the Supreme Court (now the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal), Administrator of the Province of Nova Scotia and a Trustee of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. As a judge, he earned a reputation among his peers on the local and national level for hard work and dedication to judicial education. Consistent with his reputation for service to his profession, Chief Justice Clarke sat on numerous committees of the Canadian Judicial Council, including the Executive, Judicial Conduct, Administration of Justice Committees and the National Judicial Institute, the body responsible for providing judicial education to judges across the country. During his time as Chief Justice, he worked to achieve a collaborative relationship among the various courts in the province and helped establish the Executive Office of the Judiciary which is the only body of its kind in Canada. During his tenure, he initiated progressive changes including television coverage of proceedings in the Court of Appeal, a separate room for members of the media in the Law Courts and a program for feedback from the Bar on judicial performance.

Chief Justice Clarke received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Dalhousie in 1986. He also received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Saint Mary’s University in 2005. He was an Officer of the Order of Canada (1999) and a Member of the Order of Nova Scotia (2002). Perhaps the most difficult task he took on was the one of which he was most proud. In November, 1998 he was appointed to oversee the Swissair Flight 111 planning and co-ordination Secretariat in the aftermath of the crash off the coast of Nova Scotia of the jet bound from New York to Geneva. Chief Justice Clarke was praised for his compassion in dealing with the families of the victims. The Secretariat was responsible for creating an appropriate memorial for the crash victims and for eventually establishing the three memorial sites. He was awarded the inaugural Red Cross Humanitarian award in 2001 for his work with the Swissair memorials.

Lorne was predeceased by his wife, Mary Lou (MacLeod). He is survived by his children Nora, George (Cathy Kinsella), and Colin (Sandra Arab) and his grandchildren.

In practice, as a judge and in life, Lorne’s courteousness struck everyone he met and he was genuinely interested in each one of them. Some have called it the “common touch”. Always mindful of the power of judges to effect profound change in the lives of people and the society in which they live, he dealt with his constituents in a fair and even-handed manner. Moreover, he treated the “Rule of Law” with the respect it so justly deserves. This respect is reflected in a comment he made at the Dalhousie Law School Convocation address in 1997, where he said, “We as lawyers and judges in Canada are in a unique position of trust and power. This is not a perk. It is a responsibility for which we are accountable. We are indeed the custodians of the rule of law.”

Visitation will take place at Snow’s Funeral Home at 339 Lacewood Drive on Wednesday, May 25 at 2PM to 4PM and again from 7PM to 9PM. A funeral service will be held at the Presbyterian Church of Saint David, 1537 Brunswick Street, Halifax on Thursday, May 26 at 2PM, with a reception to follow immediately at St. Matthew’s United Church Hall, Barrington Street. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia or the Bide Awhile Animal Shelter.