Samuel Henry Strong (August 13, 1825 – August 31, 1909) was an English–Canadian lawyer and judge who served as the third Chief Justice of Canada from 1892 to 1902. He was among the original six justices appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada when it was established in 1875.
Born in Poole, England, Strong immigrated to Upper Canada with his family in 1836. He was called to the bar in 1849, and practiced primarily in Toronto where he gained distinction as an expert in the law of equity. A legal adviser to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, Strong was responsible for drafting the first legislative proposal to establish a national supreme court. He was appointed to the bench in 1869, and later the Ontario Court of Error and Appeal in 1874, before his appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1875.
As a member of the Supreme Court, Strong was known for his deep legal knowledge and analytical skill, but also for his abrasive personality that created internal divisions between justices of the Court. Strong's period as Chief Justice was marked with inter-personal conflict, poor quality judicial decision-making, and supremacy of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in defining Canada's constitution.
Early life Samuel Henry Strong was born on August 13, 1825, in Poole, England, to Samuel Spratt Strong and Jane Elizabeth Gosse. In 1836, the Strong family immigrated to Upper Canada, and the following year, Strong's father was ordained as an Anglican priest and began a series of clerical appointments, first serving as a curate in Kingston, then as chaplain to the military in Quebec City, and, from 1837 onward, as rector in Hull and Bytown (now Ottawa).
Strong attended Quebec High School, and later continued his studies under private tutors. During his youth in Bytown, Strong was at times associated with the Shiners, a group involved in labor disputes and violence. He also became active in the Orange Order, rising to the rank of lodge master. Strong reportedly took an active part in the 1849 Stony Monday Riot, arising from the Rebellion Losses Bill and the proposed inspection of Bytown by Lord Elgin for a new permanent capital for the Province of Canada.
Legal career
He later began legal training in the office of Augustus Keefer, a prominent lawyer in Bytown. Strong kept term at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, and spent time attending court sessions to observe legal arguments and courtroom procedures firsthand. During this time Strong was known to focus on studying and did not make many friends. Early in his career he had an altercation with a police officer that ended in a fight. This altercation led to Strong's first legal appearance, where he gave a "brilliant defence" resulting in the case being dismissed, and the police officer, already the subject of complaints, was dismissed from his position.
Strong was called to the bar in 1849 and established his practice in Toronto. He quickly established himself in legal circles, being elected a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1860 and was designated Queen's Counsel in 1863. In 1858, he was appointed at Osgoode Hall to lecture on the law of equity. From 1856 to 1859 he was commissioner for revising and consolidating the general statutes of Upper Canada. His early legal practice in Toronto included partnerships with Henry Eccles, and Strong later worked in association with several leading lawyers, including Thomas Wardlaw Taylor, James David Edgar, and John Hoskin. He later joined with William Marshall Matheson to form the law firm of Strong and Matheson.
Drafting the Supreme Court Act
Following Canadian Confederation in 1867, Strong accepted a legal assignment from his friend and political ally, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald to draft the first legislative proposal for the creation of a national supreme court. The two men corresponded frequently throughout the summer, discussing the proposed court's structure and jurisdiction. Strong initially believed the task would be straightforward, but he soon encountered conceptual and constitutional challenges. Drawing inspiration from the Supreme Court of the United States, Strong borrowed provisions from its founding legislation and even unsuccessfully requested funding from Macdonald to travel to Washington to study the American court system. The challenge of creating the new court was the lack of popular consensus of whether Canadian supreme court could rule on provincial matters, or whether its jurisdiction would be limited to federal law. Section 101 of the Constitution Act, 1867, was too vague to provide guidance on the jurisdiction of the new court. Macdonald, a centralist, rejected the narrow interpretation wanted a supreme court to unite the common law in the provinces of Canada. Ultimately, Strong's draft Supreme Court Act, was submitted to Parliament, received first reading and was withdrawn after objections were raised.
On the bench On December 27, 1869, Strong was appointed vice-chancellor of the Ontario Court of Chancery, marking his formal entry into the judiciary. In 1871 was appointed to a provincial commission of inquiry in Ontario to examine the fusion of historically separate courts of common law and equity along with other leading judges such as James Robert Gowan, John Wellington Gwynne and Christopher Salmon Patterson. However, Premier Edward Blake dissolved the inquiry in September 1872. On May 27, 1874, Strong was appointed a justice of the Ontario Court of Error and Appeal, a position he held briefly until his appointment to the newly formed Supreme Court of Canada.
Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
In April 1875, Parliament passed The Supreme and Exchequer Court Act, which established both the Supreme Court of Canada and the Exchequer Court. The Supreme Court was initially composed of six justices, each of whom also served individually as a judge of the newly created Exchequer Court. On September 30, 1875, Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie appointed Samuel Henry Strong as one of the court's five puisne justices. He was sworn in alongside the other appointees by Chief Justice William Buell Richards on November 8, 1875. At 50 years old, Strong was the youngest of the newly appointed Supreme Court.
Strong was widely regarded as a leading civil law jurist, praised for his fluency in French, and described as "a scientific lawyer and one of the best appeal judges." At the time, he was reportedly "extremely anxious" to receive the appointment. Strong's association with Macdonald and previous jurisprudence, it was expected that Strong would adopt a centralist interpretation of the British North America Act. However, his subsequent constitutional decisions often defied those expectations, particularly in cases concerning the balance of federal and provincial powers.
In two early constitutional cases, Strong demonstrated a nuanced approach to federalism. In Lenoir v Ritchie (1879), which concerned the authority of provincial lieutenant governors to grant the title of Queen's Counsel, Strong criticized his colleagues for addressing constitutional issues that, in his view, were unnecessary to resolve the case. Strong's dissent in Mercer v Attorney General for Ontario (1881), siding with Chief Justice Ritchie against the majority's centralist position. The decision was later overturned by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, affirming the province's claim., overturned on appeal Later, Strong took a firm federalist stance in St. Catharines Milling and Lumber Co. v The Queen (1887), a jurisdictional dispute over timber licenses on Indigenous lands in northern Ontario. Writing in dissent, Strong upheld the Dominion's authority based on treaty surrender and the continued legal force of the Royal Proclamation of 1763.,
In the Court's early years, Strong quickly earned a reputation for his legal intellect, but also for delays in issuing written judgments. Justices often issued oral decisions or brief statements of direction, leading to inconsistencies in reported cases. Strong was frequently criticized by the Registrar for failing to submit his decisions for publication in the Supreme Court Reports. By 1888, the Registrar reported that Strong was responsible for 21 of the 25 outstanding unpublished decisions. In one instance, the Registrar noted in the report that Strong had "mislaid his judgment" and had directed the reporter to publish the case without it. The Registrar reportedly visited Strong's home to compel him to complete his work, threatening to omit his opinions from the official reports if the delays continued.
Chief Justice of Canada
On September 25, 1892, Chief Justice William Johnstone Ritchie died at the age of 78 after a relapse of bronchitis. Early speculation suggested that Prime Minister John Abbott might appoint Justice Minister John Sparrow David Thompson as Chief Justice. At the time, there was a widely held view that the position should not automatically go to the Court's longest-serving member. Prominent Conservative Senator James Robert Gowan, a key party advisor on legal matters, strongly opposed an appointment by seniority. Gowan wrote to Justice Minister Thompson suggesting that Justice Strong be allowed to retire and that the appointment be delayed. He also expressed a lack of confidence in Strong's work ethic. Despite these concerns, Thompson, who had recently succeeded John Abbott as Prime Minister, appointed Strong as Chief Justice on December 13, 1892.
Initial public reaction to Strong's appointment was mixed. The Toronto Daily Mail described his elevation as a "foregone conclusion," and the Ottawa Citizen characterized it as "the best appointment that could have been made." However, legal journals expressed more cautious views. The Canadian Law Times questioned the practice of promoting by seniority and the Canada Law Journal reiterated its preference for an external appointment to improve the Court's standing.
Historians Snell and Vaughan described the elevation of Strong to Chief Justice of the Court as a poor selection. While Strong was a highly intelligent justice with an interest in the French civil law and language, his personality was abrasive and his work ethic was poor. Contemporary perception was also negative, with the Canada Law Journal commenting in 1896 that the Supreme Court did not have confidence of the legal profession from either English Canada or Quebec.
As chief justice, Strong was described by his contemporaries as "overshadow[ing] everybody on the bench," and he "dominated without leading." In an 1895 hearing, Strong became incensed with a lawyer arguing a case when he was referred to as "Mr. Strong", and left the hearing, only to return when he was sent for and apologized. In the aftermath of the 1901 case King v Love, a lawyer made a written complaint to the Minister of Justice and the Colonial Secretary about Strong's behaviour. In 1901, a lawyer filed assault charges against Strong for allegedly assaulting the lawyer in the hallway and using violent language in the court room. Strong denied the allegations and the government ignored the issue.