Please note that the titles and descriptions that accompany each Trailblazers photograph are dated to the launch of the exhibit, March 2006, and will not be updated.
"I am inspired by the metaphor of the 'living tree' from the now famous 'Persons' case, and how perfect it is for our rights-based constitution. This image contrasts a backward-looking legal text to one that is vibrant and responsive, adapting core principles to an ever-changing world."
Lorraine Weinrib '73
Professor of Law, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law and Department of Political Science
One of Canada's foremost constitutional law experts, Lorraine Weinrib has spent the past 30 years - first at the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, rising to Deputy Director of Constitutional Law and Policy, and since 1988 in academe - establishing the legitimacy and coherence of Canada's Constitution, particularly the Charter. The core of modern constitutionalism, she says, is respect for equality and inherent human dignity, an idea that accounts for the Charter's influence on other constitutional systems and the development of comparative constitutional law since the Second World War. Lorraine has published widely and taught in the United States, South Africa and Israel, exporting her vision of rights-based democracy and adapting it to specific local problems. She is excited by her teaching, noting that the classroom has much of the dynamism of the courtroom. Lorraine's career is an enduring reminder that it is possible to combine professional excellence with a rich personal life. She and Ernie Weinrib, her husband of 35 years and colleague of 18 years, have three children.
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