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John SopinkaJohn Sopinka (March 19 1933 - November 24 1997) was a Canadian lawyer and puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada, the first Ukrainian-Canadian appointed to the high court. Sopinka was born in Broderick, Saskatchewan and lived there until his family moved to Hamilton, Ontario in 1955. He completed secondary school at Saltfleet High School in what is now Hamilton. He earned Bachelor of Arts and law degrees at the University of Toronto . While studying law, he also played professional football with the Toronto Argonauts and then the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He was called to the bar of Ontario in 1960 and practiced law at Fasken & Calven before becoming a senior partner at Stikeman, Elliott. He was created a Queen's Counsel in 1975 and was also a lecturer at both the Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Toronto Law School. He also authored several books on the law. He was involved with several high profile cases including acting on behalf of Susan Nelles when she sued the government of Ontario and the Toronto police for malicious prosecution after the withdrawal of charges against her for murdering babies at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. An inquiry into her case exonerated her and she won damages from the government for her ordeal. In 1986 he represented the Ukrainian Canadian Committee at the Deschnes Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals and argued against the deportation of suspected war criminals to their native lands, particularly the Soviet Union. A noted trial lawyer he was appointed directly to the Supreme Court of Canada on May 24 1988 without ever having been a judge, a rare accomplishment. He served on the court until his death in 1997 at the age of 64. An historic courthouse in Hamilton, formerly occupying the post office, was named in his honour. Sopinka, John Sopinka, John Sopinka, John
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