George Ethelbert Carter

{{Short description|First black judge born in Canada}}

File:Photograph of George Ethelbert Carter (14672570709).jpg

George Ethelbert Carter, {{postnominals|country=CAN|CM}} was the first Canadian-born black judge.{{cite web |url=http://libblog.osgoode.yorku.ca/2014/05/bust-of-justice-george-e-carter-unveiled-in-osgoode-library/ |title=Bust of Justice George E. Carter Unveiled in Osgoode Library |last1= Mirando |first1=Louis |date=May 2, 2014 |website=Off The Shelf |publisher=Osgoode Hall Law School Library Blog |accessdate=October 1, 2014}}

George Ethelbert Carter was born in Toronto on Aug. 1, 1921.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-trailblazing-judge-george-ethelbert-carter-embodied-ethics/|title = Trailblazing judge George Ethelbert Carter embodied ethics|newspaper = The Globe and Mail|date = 15 June 2018|last1 = Lorinc|first1 = John}} He was the oldest of 14 children born to John and Louise Carter, who came to Toronto from Barbados just after World War I.

Carter completed his undergraduate studies at Trinity College, at the University of Toronto, and graduated in 1944. He was then called up for active service in World War II and was on his way to Europe when the war ended.

A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in 1948, Carter had his own law firm and practised in the areas of real estate, criminal and family law for 31 years. He was appointed an Ontario provincial court judge in 1979 and later served with the Ontario Court of Justice for 16 years.

He worked as a porter to pay his tuition to law school,{{cite web |url=http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/all-about-alumni/george-carter-first-black-judge-in-canada-the-making-of-a-judge/ |title=The Making of a Judge |last1=Treleaven |first1=Sarah |date=Spring 2011 |publisher=University of Toronto Magazine |accessdate=October 1, 2014}} and served with the Canadian Army in World War II. He was instrumental in establishing Legal Aid in the Province of Ontario.{{cite web |url=http://www.cabl.ca/cabl-news/other/item/63-hon-george-e-carter-appointed-to-the-order-of-ontario |title=Hon. George E. Carter Appointed to the Order of Ontario |date=January 2014 |website=Canadian Association of Black Lawyers |accessdate=October 1, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141005222844/http://www.cabl.ca/cabl-news/other/item/63-hon-george-e-carter-appointed-to-the-order-of-ontario |archivedate=October 5, 2014 }}