Judge Kael McKenzie

CBA President Steeves Bujold in conversation with the first transgender person ever appointed a judge in Canada, Judge Kael McKenzie of the Provincial Court of Manitoba. A 2006 graduate of the University of Manitoba, Judge McKenzie has worked as a lawyer, both in private practice with the Winnipeg firm of Chapman Goddard Kagan and as a Crown prosecutor in family, commercial and civil law. He co-chaired the Canadian Bar Association's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference from 2012 to 2014, and has served as vice president of the Manitoba Bar Association, as Manitoba chair of the Canadian Bar Association, and president of the provincial Rainbow Resource Centre for Manitoba's LGBT and two-spirit communities. He served for several years in the Canadian Forces before attending law school. Outside of his legal work, he has also been a volunteer for the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia (stjamesmuseum.com) and the North American Indigenous Games. He is a member of the Manitoba Métis Nation.Links:CBA Access to Justice for Trans PeopleSea Cadets - Canada.caDownload the Surveys - Trans PULSE Canadapractice_direction_-_may_27_2021_english-1.pdf (manitobacourts.mb.ca)TRANSforming JUSTICE – Trans Legal Needs Assessment Ontario Project | HALCOThe Daily — Canada is the first country to provide census data on transgender and non-binary people (statcan.gc.ca)Gender Inclusivity in the Courts: How to Treat Everyone with Fairness, Dignity, and Impartiality - Access & Fairness - National Center for State Courts (oclc.org)