Family and friends are mourning the loss of George Ethelbert Carter, one of this country’s sharpest legal minds and first native-born Black judge.
Carter was surrounded by his family when he passed away last week at his Etobicoke home. He was 96. His funeral service will take place at the Glendale Chapel in Rexdale on June 12.
The Toronto-born Carter was the first of 14 children of John Carter and Louise Braithwaite Carter, who emigrated here from Barbados. He went on to become one of Canada’s first Black lawyers and the first native-born, Black judge.
His mom Louise made sure her children always attended church and school as their father laboured all day in an iron foundry to support the large family.

“I think back to the wonderful good fortune I had in having two great parents,” Carter would say. “They were just ordinary folks and it was at home where the real lessons were learned.”
Though money was tight, Carter attended Harbord Collegiate Institute, where he excelled at classes. He was a top learner and decided to attend university.
He attended University of Toronto, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. The young man then enrolled and saw active duty in 1944 with the Canadian Infantry Corps before pursuing his dream of a legal career.
A large, silent-spoken man, Carter worked as a railroad porter to pay his tuition at Osgoode Hall Law School, from where he graduated in 1948. He was always interested in the community and regularly submitted articles to be published in Contrast Newspaper, where I was a cub reporter.
He was lucky to article with B. J. Spencer Pitt, the only Black lawyer practicing in Ontario in those days. He later he went to work for Sydney Harris, a Jewish Canadian lawyer, since no other law firms would accept Black law students for training.
Pitt and Harris at the time were among the very few firms that opened their doors to train Black law students.
After being called to the Bar in 1949, Carter opened his own firm on Bay Street in 1952. The firm handled mostly real estate, family law and criminal cases.
“I wanted to be a lawyer,” Carter recalled in an early interview. “I wanted to have my own practice and that I did, for 31 years.”
He defended others for decades before being appointed a Judge in the Ontario Provincial Court in 1979 and later, appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice, where he served for 16 years.

“It was a great experience,” the judge once said. “I loved listening to people and their stories and all their problems.”
Carter, who was well-known in the courtroom, was also instrumental in the implementation of Legal Aid in Ontario, for which he is best remembered.
In addition to his distinguished legal career, he never forgot his roots and was always there to help others in need.
He was a founding member of the Toronto Negro Veterans; a member of The Committee for the Adoption of Coloured Youngsters – a group that promoted the adoption of Black children; a founding member of The National Black Coalition of Canada; a founding member and past President of Toronto Negro Business and Professional Association and a Board member of the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS).
The Black community in return loved Carter and let their feelings be known. He has bestowed with many awards including the: Harry Jerome Lifetime Achievement Award; Osgoode Hall Law School of York University Award For Excellence and Honorary Life Membership to The Ontario Judges Association.
He was also honoured by the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL) and is a recipient of Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
He was so highly thought off that a bust of Justice Carter was unveiled at the Osgoode Hall Library in May 2014. A television documentary The Making of a Judge was made about his life in 2010 and he was awarded the Order of Ontario in 2014.