In his office, one thing that immediately caught your eye was the large photo: a close-up of two hands tying a hockey skate.
Posted at 7:53pm
It was less a tribute to the sport he was so passionate about and more a motto of sorts: You come here to work hard – but with a smile.
Pierre A. Michaud, one of the pre-eminent figures in Quebec’s judiciary at the end of the 20th century, died Friday. He was 86 years old.
Attorney, then judge and Deputy Chief Justice of the Superior Court, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal, the highest court in Quebec, in 1994.
Obsessed with access to justice, he did not content himself with emphasizing in a series of speeches and interviews the need to reform and simplify this too-expensive public service. Almost unprecedented for a magistrate, he himself initiated several reforms.
“We have an excellent code of practice, but it’s made for a gourmet meal when most people just need a quick meal,” he said earlier.
He had more or less summoned the then Minister of Justice, Paul Bégin, who shared his views, to shake off the spurs of the system.
He also forced the introduction of a new and unique arbitration system at the Court of Appeals designed by Justice Louise Otis.
It was my idea, but without him it would never have happened. There was a vote among the judges and the result was 50-50. Many were skeptical or thought the judges were losing their authority. It was he who decided. He said, “It doesn’t make sense for people to burn down their houses when they get divorced.”
Louise Otis, President of the Administrative Court of the OECD and the Court of Appeal of the OIF
The model has offspring, has established itself at all courts and even internationally. Recently, French Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti praised mediation in the Quebec judiciary.
Much could be gleaned from his ancient speeches to get today’s Quebec judiciary back on track, some sections of which are stuck by deadlines. Undoubtedly no one before or since Pierre Michaud carried the honorary title of Chief Justice of Quebec with such enthusiasm. When it came to defending the judges’ work, he was a team player and stood up. But if he had to kick someone’s butt, he didn’t mind.
A partner from his time as a lawyer at Desjardins Ducharme told me one day that Pierre Michaud had called the manager of an insurance company, a very important client of the firm. “The company wanted us to do something that is unethical. He had taken the 600 company files and told her to go to another office. »
The thing was amazing in a big office 50 years ago, today it is unimaginable.
Louise Otis, who is constantly being called abroad to resolve disputes through mediation, recently met her old accomplice with other retired judges. Pierre Michaud had just lost his wife Louise Painchaud to COVID-19.
“He told us, ‘You know, basically we’re here for one thing: to make other people happy.’ »
Pierre Michaud leaves behind his two sons Jacques and Jean-François.