Allen Linden and his brother Sidney may be the only Jewish brothers to be awarded the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours that recognizes outstanding achievement and service to the nation.
For the Linden brothers, their accomplishments and honours are well-documented and too many to list, but the two lawyers, both of whom have helped to change and improve the Canadian legal landscape, seemed more interested in reminiscing and singing each others’ praises than speaking about their latest achievements.
“We both grew up in Toronto at Robert and College (streets). Children of parents who never went to high school. Immigrant people, both from small villages in Poland,” said Allen Linden, 81, recently retired judge of the Federal Court of Appeal who was named an officer of the Order of Canada last year.
“We stuck together all the time. He chased after me. Wherever I went, he went. Whatever I did, he did,” he said of his younger brother. “I would learn how to do something, and then I would teach him and he would surpass me. I learned how to play the yo-yo, I taught him how and he went on to win the city championship. I learned how to play basketball, I taught him how, and his team won the championship. I encouraged him to do law and he did it and he did far more than I ever did, heading up more organizations and doing more for the legal community in the country than I ever did.”
Allen, who served as an Osgoode Law School professor for 20 years, and a judge for 32 years, had a hand in Ontario’s adoption of a no-fault auto insurance plan and in initiating a study that resulted in a provincial system that helps compensate victims of violent crimes.
Pressed to speak about some of his career highlights, Allen said he was proud that he wrote the first Canadian law book about the law of torts.
“It’s a fundamental subject in the legal system. There wasn’t a textbook about it, and I did the first one in 1972 and that book is now in its 10th edition. It was the first textbook on Canadian tort law, and that was a big thing,” he said.
Another source of pride for Allen was his involvement in obtaining compensation for families affected by Thalidomide, a drug prescribed in the early 1960s to treat morning sickness in pregnant women that was linked to major birth defects and infant death.
“I think that’s one of the things I’m most proud of. I stood up for them way back when no one else did and helped them get compensation,” he said.
Sidney, 77, who was honoured as a member of the Order of Canada in June, said he has always looked up to his brother as a mentor and role model.
“He was one of these rare guys who did well in school from the beginning all the way through. He finished first or second in every year that he was in school. And he did it effortlessly. He was really very, very bright… My brother’s success would be no surprise to anyone, whereas mine on the other hand was less predictable,” he said with a laugh.
“Because I had such admiration for him as a kid, I just sort of followed in his footsteps.”
Despite Sidney’s modesty, his own countless achievements and groundbreaking roles in Canada’s legal history suggests his award was more than predictable.
Sidney, who currently serves as Ontario’s conflict-of-interest commissioner, developed a reputation as a reformer and something of an institutional architect.
In the early 1980s, at the request of then attorney general Roy McMurtry, Sidney conducted research on police complaints and proposed a model that the province adopted. He was later named the first police complaints commissioner for Metropolitan Toronto.
Sidney was later appointed Ontario’s first information and privacy commissioner in 1988 before being called on by then attorney general Ian Scott to become the first chief judge of the Ontario Court of Justice in 1990.
“Ian Scott appointed me to make reforms and change the infrastructure of the court, and I did that… that’s a definite highlight,” Sidney said.
“The other highlight was the Ipperwash Inquiry investigation into the shooting death of an Aboriginal man and it was very public and lasted for about three years.”
In 2004, Linden was appointed commissioner for the Ipperwash Inquiry to investigate the 1995 shooting death of aboriginal protester Dudley George. Sidney said the report was well received by his peers and the media alike, and most of its recommendations were adopted.
The Linden brothers agreed that being recognized by the Order of Canada is an honour, and they’re both delighted that they can share in this achievement.
“It’s a great honour to be included with a group of such distinguished Canadians, but especially an honour knowing that my brother is a member – that just blew me away,” Sidney said.
“My parents came here hoping, like so many other Jewish families coming from Poland in the 1920s, that their children would have a better chance, and they would be happy to see that it worked out for them.”
