Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré

Early Life and Education

Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré is the only daughter of Elma and Arthur Westmoreland, who are of Guyanese origin. Her maternal grandmother was a teacher and her grandfather a school principal. They arrived in Canada in the 1930s. (See Immigration to Canada.) Westmoreland-Traoré was born in the working-class municipality of Verdun, southwest of Montreal.

Westmoreland-Traoré was incredibly young when she lost her mother. Her mother’s side of the family decided to get involved in her education and immersed her in Guyanese cultural activities. She attended an English-language elementary school in Verdun. She also spent a school year in British Guiana with her grandmother and maternal great-grandmother.

During her childhood, Westmoreland-Traoré had to change schools several times. She followed her father, who frequently moved to earn a living. He worked as a sleeping car porter for the Pullman railroad company.

In 1963, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Marianopolis College, a private English-language college in Westmount.

Westmoreland-Traoré decided to study law. She says she was inspired by the movement for Black civil rights in the United States. Her father, who was also an activist, influenced her as well. (See also Anti-Black Racism in Canada.)

In 1966, she continued her studies in French and obtained a bachelor's degree from the Université de Montréal Faculty of Law. She was the only Black person in her class.

She continued her studies in France. In 1972, she received a doctorate in public law and administrative sciences from the Université de Paris II, now called the Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas.

In France, she met her future husband, Ismaïl Traoré, who was of Malian origin. Together, the couple had two sons, N'Kô Bangaly Traoré and John Abbass Traoré.

Career Path

Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré's career has been divided between the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, both for her professional and community activities.

In 1969, Westmoreland-Traoré was admitted to the Quebec Bar, a necessary step to practise law. That same year, she started her own practice and defended ten Black protesters accused of participating in anti-racist student protests at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University). (See Sir George Williams Affair.)

Did you know?
Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré is the second lawyer in her family. She is the niece of Frederick Phillips, the first Black graduate of McGill University's Faculty of Law (1956). He was also the first Black person to be admitted to the Quebec Bar.

In 1970, Westmoreland-Traoré continued her career and joined the law firm of Mergler, Melançon, Bless for six years.

In addition to actively practicing law, Westmoreland-Traoré was the first Black law professor at the Université de Montréal and the Université du Québec à Montréal. She became an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal in 1972. She left her position in 1976 to start her own practice. She nevertheless taught part-time in the Department of Legal Sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal until 1991. She specialized in immigration, personal and family law.

Westmoreland-Traoré engaged in improving the education network. She contacted the Government of Quebec’s Conseil supérieur de l'éducation to examine educational activities and needs. She took part in the Committee on Interfaith and Intercultural Affairs in the late 1970s.

In 1979, Lise Payette, Minister of Consumers, Cooperatives and Financial Institutions, appointed Westmoreland-Traoré as a member of the Office de protection des consommateurs du Québec, a position she held until 1983. From 1983 to 1985, she was a part-time Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. In 1985, Gérald Godin, Quebec's Minister of Cultural Communities and Immigration, appointed her president of the Conseil consultatif des communautés culturelles et de l'immigration du Québec. From 1985 to 1990, Westmoreland-Traoré worked on the council to facilitate the integration of immigrants into Quebec society. From 1990 to 1995, she was Director of the Employment Equity Commission of Ontario.

In 1995, Westmoreland-Traoré served as a United Nations advisor to the National Commission for Truth and Justice in Haiti.

In 1996, at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Westmoreland-Traoré became the first Black Dean of a Faculty of Law in Canada, a responsibility she held for three years. The following year in 1997, she was admitted to the Ontario Bar.

In the early 1980s, Westmoreland-Traoré continued her community involvement as a legal advisor. She was involved with the Congress of Black Women of Canada, the Black Community Centre and the Association québécoise des organismes de Coopération internationale. In 1984 she was also a member of the advisory committee of the National Order of Québec.

In April 1999, Westmoreland-Traoré was appointed to the Court of Québec bench in the Criminal and Penal Division and the Family Division. She became the first Black person to hold this role in the province. She was one of 49 women among the 264 judges of the Court of Québec.

Between 2003 and 2009, Westmoreland-Traoré was a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian chapter of the International Association of Women Judges. From 2004 to 2010, she served as co-chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee of the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges.

Retirement

In 2012, Justice Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré began a period of gradual retirement from the Court of Québec. She continued to preside over trials as a supernumerary judge until her retirement in 2017.

Even in retirement, she has continued her community involvement with United Way Montreal, the Ligue des droits et libertés, the Congress of Black Women of Canada and the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund.

Awards and Recognition

• Officer of theNational Order of Québec (1991)
• Honorary doctorates from theUniversity of Ottawa (1993), Université du Québec à Montréal (2001), and McGill University (2018)
• Jackie Robinson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Black Business and Professional Association (2003)
• Canadian Bar Association Foundations Award (2005)
• Rights and Freedoms Award from the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (2008)
• Christine Tourigny Merit Award (2009)
• Medal of the Bar of Montreal (2021-2022)

Since 2013, the Department of Legal Sciences and the Fondation de l'Université du Québec à Montréal have been offering a $3,000 scholarship in the name of Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré. This award is given to a student who stands out for their commitment to use the law as a tool for social change.