described Hall as the most important Canadian judge of the 20th century. Hall had been indelibly marked by his experience going through the Great Depression in Saskatchewan. One of his friends and fellow Saskatchewanian, Ramon Hnatyshyn, former Governor General of Canada, commented: "They were tough times. You had a chance to see real deprivation and the importance of helping your fellow citizen." One of Hall's biographers, Dennis Gruending, characterised him as an "Establishment radical." Gruending wrote that Hall was a study in contradictions. A member of the Establishment, he was more interested in justice than in privilege. Despite reaching the elite heights of his profession, he never forgot his own humble origins or the needs of the ordinary people that he encountered during his long life. That was also reflected in his work on the Supreme Court, where he defended civil liberties and protected minority rights. Hall believed that Canadian society ought to embrace ethnic diversity, alleviate poverty, and redress the shameful treatment of Aboriginal peoples. On his retirement from the Supreme Court in 1974, Hall was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, "for a lifetime of service to the law and for his contributions to the improvement of health services and education." At the age of 81, as he was wrapping up his second inquiry into health care, he was asked by a reporter when he would stop his activities. "When they bury me," Hall replied. He remained active well into his 90s. During the federal election of 1993, he strongly criticised Preston Manning, the leader of the Reform Party of Canada, for proposing user fees for health care and the complete withdrawal of the federal government from the medicare system. Hall suffered a stroke in late 1993, shortly after celebrating his 95th birthday at a public dinner in his honour. The stroke confined him to a wheelchair. Hall died on November 12, 1995, just short of his 97th birthday. References Further reading Dennis Gruending, Emmett Hall: Establishment Radical (Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2005). External links Order of Canada Citation Supreme Court of Canada Biography Saskatchewan Law Courts Biography The Justice Emmett Hall Memorial Foundation Official Website 1898 births 1995 deaths Lawyers in Saskatchewan Canadian King's Counsel Canadian university and college chancellors Chancellors of the University of Saskatchewan Chancellors of the University of Guelph Companions of the Order of Canada Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada