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Karen Busby

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Karen Busby
Born(1958-09-17)September 17, 1958
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
DiedJuly 23, 2026(2026-07-23) (aged 67)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
OccupationsLawyer, academic
Known forResearch into queer issues, reproductive rights, constitutional law, and civil procedure

Karen Busby (17 September 1958 – 23 July 2026) was a Canadian lawyer, feminist and academic who was a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba.[1] She is most known for her research into queer issues, reproductive rights, constitutional law, and civil procedure.[2]

Education and career

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Busby studied law at the University of Manitoba and received her juris doctorate in 1981. In 1983, she studied French language studies at the Sorbonne and then in 1988 received her Masters of Law from Columbia University. She worked as a research assistant and first ever clerk at the Federal Court of Canada from 1984 to 1987 and then started as an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba in 1988.[3]

In April 2002, she founded the Group Organizing for Same-Sex Issues and Principles (GOSSIP) to advocate for the Government of Manitoba to amend legislation that discriminated against same sex couples.[4] These efforts resulted in the Bill 34 - The Charter Compliance Act, which amended 56 piece of legislation to remove distinctions between opposite and sex relationships, Bill 41 - An Act To Comply With The Supreme Court of Canada Decision In M. v. H, which extended pension and benefits to same sex partners, and Bill 53 - The Common Law Partners’ Property and Related Amendments Act, which extended marital property law to common law unions.[5]

Her work was quoted in major legal decisions and she intervened in several cases.[6] Her research in sexual violence was quoted in the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R. v. Mills.[7] She went on to represent the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund in Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v. Canada, which challenged the validity of the Customs Act being used to ban the import of gay and lesbian literature on the grounds of obscenity.[8] She has also spoken in opposition to judges who indicated that women are in a state of sexual readiness based on their clothing.[9]

Busby was the founding director of the University of Manitoba's Centre for Human Rights Research, which was founded in 2012.[10] She also served on the Board of Directors for the Winnipeg Art Gallery.[11]

Selected publications

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Busby was the founding author of the annotated version of the Manitoba Queen's Bench rules,[12] which she edited starting in 1992 until 2002.[2] This publication is still maintained, now as the annotated version of the Manitoba King's Bench rules.[13]

In 2020, Busby along with Joanna Birenbaum published Achieving Fairness: A Guide To Campus Sexual Violence Complaints. The book discusses how to balance privacy concerns with transparency, when to involve the criminal process, and the design of "fair, efficient, and bias-free" campus sexual violence policies.[14]

In 2025, Busby contributed the opening chapter to Joanna Radboard's LGBTQ2+ Law: Practice Issues and Analysis.[15] Her chapter was called The Gay Agenda: A Short History of Queer Rights in Canada (1969–2018).

Other works include:

  • Busby, Karen; Muller, Adam; Woolford, Andrew, eds. (2015). The idea of a human rights museum. Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press. ISBN 978-0-88755-782-8.[16]
  • Busby, Karen (2012). "Every Breath You Take: Erotic Asphyxiation, Vengeful Wives, and Other Enduring Myths in Spousal Sexual Assault Protections". Canadian Journal of Women and Law. 24 (2): 328–358. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2084792.
  • Busby, Karen; Vun, Delaney (2010). "Revisiting the Handmaid's Tale: Feminist Theory Meets Empirical Research on Surrogate Mothers" (PDF). Can J Family Law. 26 (1): 13.

Personal life and death

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Busby was born in Edmonton, Alberta. She lived most of her life in Winnipeg with her wife, Jan Lederman. She lived with Parkinson's disease for 15 years. Busby died on 23 July 2026, at the age of 67.[17]

Awards

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  • 2007 - YWCA Women of Distinction Award in the category of business and professions.[18]
  • 2004 - Hero award from Canadian Bar Association's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference.
  • 2015 - Dr. and Mrs. H.H. Saunderson Award for Excellence in Teaching.[citation needed]
  • 2017 - Senate 150 medal.[19]
  • 2025 - Richard J. Scott Award, awarded annually by Law Society of Manitoba.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "In Memory of Karen Louise Busby". karenbusby.ca. Retrieved 2026-07-10.
  2. 1 2 3 "2025 Richard J. Scott Award Announcement". The Law Society of Manitoba. 2025-06-03. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  3. ↑ "Karen Busby Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). University of Manitoba. June 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "Equal Marriage for Same-Sex Couples". www.samesexmarriage.ca. Retrieved 2026-07-28.
  5. ↑ McLeod, Christine (2006). "The Charter Compliance Act" (PDF). The Manitoba Law Journal. 3.
  6. ↑ O'Hallarn, Brendan (2001-05-31). "Same-six bill tabled". The Winnipeg Sun. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-06-24.
  7. ↑ "R. v. Mills – SCC Cases". decisions.scc-csc.ca. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  8. ↑ "Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v. Canada (Minister of Justice), 2000 SCC 69 (CanLII)". www.canlii.org. 2000-12-15. Archived from the original on 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  9. ↑ Edmonds, Scott (2011-02-25). "Judge criticized for saying victim's clothing, attitude factors in rape". Trail Daily Times. pp. A5. Retrieved 2026-06-24.
  10. ↑ "A Legacy of Human Rights Research". University of Manitoba. 2020-06-20. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  11. ↑ "Senate 150 Medals". Patricia Bovey. Retrieved 2026-07-28.
  12. ↑ "Manitoba Queen's Bench Rules annotated. | Courthouse Libraries BC". www.courthouselibrary.ca. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
  13. ↑ "Manitoba King's Bench Rules Annotated | Thomson Reuters". store.thomsonreuters.ca. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
  14. ↑ Busby, Karen; Birenbaum, Joanna (2020). Achieving fairness: a guide to campus sexual violence complaints. Toronto, Ontario: Thompson Reuters Canada. ISBN 978-0-7798-9229-7.
  15. ↑ Radbord, Joanna (October 2019). LGBTQ2+ Law: Practice Issues and Analysis. Emond Publishing. ISBN 978-1-77255-432-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  16. ↑ Reviews of The idea of a human rights museum
  17. ↑ "BUSBY KAREN LOUISE - Obituaries - Winnipeg Free Press Passages". passages.winnipegfreepress.com. Retrieved 2026-07-28.
  18. ↑ Recipients of the YWCA Women of the Year Awards / YMCA-YWCA Women of Dis*tinction Awards. Manitoba Historical Society
  19. ↑ "Senate 150 Medals". Patricia Bovey. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
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