Samuel Freedman - Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

In 1934, Freedman married Brownie Udow. He is the father of current Justice Martin Freedman, of the Manitoba Court of Appeal. Interestingly, the younger Freedman's first judicial appointment was to a position once held by his father.

In 1964, Freedman was called upon to conduct an inquiry and public hearings into a railway workers' dispute regarding technological changes. The Freedman Commission issued its report in early December 1965.

Samuel Freedman was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada, Jeanne Sauvé, on June 25, 1984. He has also received numerous honorary degrees.

The following quotation has been attributed to Freedman:

“They say that during the first five years every judge delivers his judgment with a lurking suspicion in his mind that he is wrong. During the next five years he delivers every judgment absolutely convinced that he is right. Thereafter he delivers his judgments with a growing indifference as to whether he is right or wrong. And they say that when the indifference becomes habitual, he should retire.”