Des bancs d'école au banc des juges

When she was nine years old, Michelle O´Bonsawin already knew that she wanted to be a lawyer. Now at age 43, she is the youngest judge on the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa and the first Abenaki woman in the country to sit on the bench. The former student of Champlain high school in Chelmsford remembers the teachers who inspired her and believed in her dream, despite the long distance separating her small village from the nation´s capital. Today, Michelle O´Bonsawin wants to give back to her community and make a difference. She especially hopes to increase public awareness of the high incarceration rate for Aboriginal people.