SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — The Late Jon Brosi James Nutting

Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to the late Jon Brosi James Nutting, a beloved husband, father and friend and a leading figure in the Canadian legal community.

Brosi, as he was known, has been called a lawyers’ lawyer. He was also called a judge’s judge. That’s because he argued cases in front of the Supreme Court of Canada, and, as a chief judge, he always said he was just first among equals. He put that theory into practice like no other chief judge I have met. As my friend Gerry Seniuk, also a former chief judge, said of Brosi:

[The] law has a Latin phrase to describe a force like Brosi Nutting. Sui generis. Sui generis. It means unlike any other, one of a kind, a class unto itself, and Brosi was certainly that.

He was a mentor, a friend and a source of sage guidance to many. He insisted that I understand the people and communities appearing before me. That advice shaped the next two decades of my life. At the time, I asked Brosi why he approved my secondments from an often understaffed provincial court. He looked at me squarely in the eye and said, without missing a beat, “Arnot, it’s because you are just like Wayne Gretzky — neither of you should be on the bench.”

Honourable colleagues, my heavy heart is tempered by such memories and thoughts of his playful sense of humour. He was a champion for judicial independence and an intrepid leader in a decades-long battle to recognize the independence of provincial courts in Canada, which occurred in the 1996 Supreme Court of Canada case known as the Provincial Court Judges Reference case. Brosi’s commitment to democratic values and to the rule of law will continue to reverberate through the people, communities and courts he held dear. He was a man of principle and also a man of deep, unwavering faith.

To his wife and soulmate, Noëlla, and his family, which he held so dear, I mourn with you the passing of Jon Brosi Nutting. He was unique and truly one of a kind. With you, I celebrate the difference Brosi has made in our lives, in Saskatchewan and in Canada.

Thank you.