Newcombe was considered as a replacement for [[Chief Justice of Canada|Chief Justice]] [[Louis Henry Davies]], and his appointment was backed by Minister of Justice [[Ernest Lapointe]].{{sfn|Snell|Vaughan|1985|p=122}} However, Prime Minister King rejected the proposal, noting that Newcombe was a conservative and there were “plenty of good men in our own [Liberal] ranks.”{{sfn|Snell|Vaughan|1985|p=122}}
Newcombe was considered as a replacement for [[Chief Justice of Canada|Chief Justice]] [[Louis Henry Davies]], and his appointment was backed by Minister of Justice [[Ernest Lapointe]].{{sfn|Snell|Vaughan|1985|p=122}} However, Prime Minister King rejected the proposal, noting that Newcombe was a conservative and there were “plenty of good men in our own [Liberal] ranks.”{{sfn|Snell|Vaughan|1985|p=122}}
Newcombe recused himself from the ”[[Persons case]]” (1928), a [[reference question|reference]] on whether women were “persons” for the purpose of appointment to the [[Senate of Canada]]. Newcombe had written an opinion on the matter as Deputy Minister of Justice in 1921 advising the government at the time that women were not qualified under for appointment to the Senate.{{sfn|Girard|2016}}
He served until his death in 1931.
He served until his death in 1931.
Supreme Court of Canada judge (1859–1931)
Edmund Leslie Newcombe, CMG (February 17, 1859 – December 9, 1931) was a Canadian lawyer, civil servant, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Edmund Leslie Newcombe was born on February 17, 1859, in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, the son of John Cumming Newcombe and Abigail H. Calkin. His father was a farmer and deacon of the Reformed Presbyterian Church who died in 1866 when Edmund was six years old. His sister, Margaret Florence Newcombe, later became the first woman to graduate from Dalhousie University and served as principal of the Halifax Ladies’ College from 1911 to 1918. The Edmund could trace his family from Acadians expelled from Connecticut a century earlier.
Newcombe received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dalhousie University in 1878 and a Master of Arts in 1881. He also earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the short-lived University of Halifax in 1881.
Newcombe was called to the bar in January 1883. He later joined the Halifax firm of Meagher, Drysdale, and Newcombe. He remained active at Dalhousie, serving on the board of governors of Dalhousie University from 1887 to 1893, and taught a course on marine insurance at the Dalhousie Law School from 1891 to 1893.
In March 1893, Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, a Nova Scotian Conservative, appointed Newcombe as Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General, succeeding Robert Sedgewick following his appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada. That same year, Newcombe was called to the bar of Ontario and appointed Queen’s Counsel.
Newcombe served as Deputy Minister of Justice for 31 years, a tenure that spanned the administrations of 11 ministers of justice and seven prime ministers. As Deputy Minister, he “was responsible for all the legal work of the government of Canada”. He frequently appeared in person in front of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, appearing in more than thirty cases in front of the latter.
He was appointed a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1909.[2]
Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
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On September 20, 1924, Newcombe was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.[3]
Newcombe was considered as a replacement for Chief Justice Louis Henry Davies, and his appointment was backed by Minister of Justice Ernest Lapointe. However, Prime Minister King rejected the proposal, noting that Newcombe was a conservative and there were “plenty of good men in our own [Liberal] ranks.”
Newcombe recused himself from the Persons case (1928), a reference on whether women were “persons” for the purpose of appointment to the Senate of Canada. Newcombe had written an opinion on the matter as Deputy Minister of Justice in 1921 advising the government at the time that women were not qualified under for appointment to the Senate.
He served until his death in 1931.
