She went from the 4-H show ring for cattle to becoming a lawyer.
She went from bailing hay in the field to being named a judge of the family court branch of the Superior Court of Justice in and for the Province of Ontario.
And Heather McGee, earlier known in this area as Heather Cox, is hoping her rapid advancement in the judiciary will inspire others from rural parts of Ontario to know there are opportunities available to those who work hard and want to make a difference in their community.
McGee’s family has played a major role in her life. Her parents are Murray and Sharon Cox, of old Eramosa township and Darlene Cox, of Guelph.
It was a throw-away remark by her father that started McGee on the path into the legal system. She was in grade 2 at Eramosa Public School when she won a public speaking contest, and her Dad, who served as Eramosa Reeve and County Warden in his time, told her, “You could be a lawyer, the way you talk.” From that moment on, that was her goal.
“I said okay, and I never changed my mind,” McGee remembered.
She went to Rockwood Public school for grades 7 and 8, and then onto high school in Fergus. She laughed and said summer school was a lot easier than bailing hay, so she took extra courses and finished grade 13 in four years before moving to the University of Guelph. It helped that she got good marks.
“I took to school and I had some great teachers,” she said. “One of them had even taught my father.”
McGee remembers her teachers fondly, and the day she was sworn in, she invited two of her favourites, Marg and Ivan Stinson, who taught history and English and math and science respectively at Centre Wellington District High School, to the ceremony, where she said they were a great hit with the Chief Justice.
McGee has learned to adjust quickly to changes in her life. After the University of Guelph, she went to Osgoode Hall to study law, and told her grandfather, Fred Cox, a former councillor, the first year was pretty tough and maybe she ought to come home to the farm. He had been involved in hiring one of the first women lawyers in the area for a municipality and he responded to her plight by saying, “Women make fine lawyers; but I’m not so sure about farmers, so you’d better keep at it.”
He thought there was nothing unusual about female lawyers – and she persevered.
Ten days after her graduation and nine days after her wedding, she began practicing law as an articling student for Stiver, Vale, Leck, Monteith in Newmarket. When that firm split up she joined one of the partners and by 1997 had founded her own practice, and found an associate – who became a partner and friend – in Laura Fryer in Markham.
Over time their practice settled into the areas of family and estates law and McGee & Fryer grew into one of York Region’s most successful firms. McGee conducted trials, mediations, trained in collaborative law, did practice reviews for the Law Society and became an active volunteer with the Bar Association.
She became President of the Ontario Bar Association in 2005-06, an organization representing over 16,000 of the province’s lawyers, following her duties as vice-president and chairman of Strategic Planning. People who know her, knew that she had caught the same public service bug of several generations of the Cox family.
Her most important years of public service were as chair of the Bar Association’s access to justice committee from 2006 to 2008. Travelling the province, the committee partnered with local MPPs to hold town hall hearings on justice issues.
“I really enjoyed dealing with the public on these challenging issues,” she said, noting that going with her father to Ontario Municipal Board Hearings and council meetings first got her interested in justice and public service.
“Justice issues are just as important as health and education issues,” she said. “Communities with timely access to justice are healthier communities.”
McGee said some of the work her committee completed during that time is now slowly leading to changes in the justice system, and she is proud of their contributions.
When her appointment came on May 15, 2009 McGee said she had “about three hours” to wind up her practice and then transfer her files amongst Fryer and their three associates.
She is keenly aware of the immense job she is taking on. For starters, in her Newmarket Court she can often face over 40 cases a day, with matters of immense diversity and from every walk of life. There are often complex factors to consider and strongly held positions. But she says being a judge is not just about adjudicating, it is also about resolving matters and helping parties work through difficult decisions. McGee was raised to consider public service as part of her life.
“My dad didn’t have to take his coveralls off after a long day of work and put on a suit for council – he did it because he enjoyed it, especially the people with whom he served; and he felt that he could help improve things.”
She said what attracted her to being a judge was “you have a tremendous opportunity to make a positive difference. As a lawyer you do it case by case. As a judge, you can bring a positive and empathetic approach to a broad range of cases every day.”
She and her husband, Randy, have three children: Jordan, 16, Austin, 13, and Dana, 8. McGee said she is very lucky because Randy is the main caregiver for the children, and he coaches and volunteers in the community. They have purchased “an old farmhouse in Belwood” that is their second home and keeps her close to her family and friends.
“It’s nice to come home at the end of the day,” she said.
By being home, she means in rural Ontario. McGee cited the coming events section in the Advertiser and said that, to her, is community. The community events and church suppers were an important part of her early life.
McGee said, “Mimosa United Church has as much, if not more to do with who I am today as Osgoode Hall Law School.”
She added growing up in rural Ontario has been a real blessing that she increasingly appreciates as the years go by.
“Rural folks seem to have a broader sense of community, and people in rural areas find talking to each other natural.
“So its second nature to me not just to study law, but where the law is going.” She is seeing major changes in family law, and wants to be part of that progression because, “very little affects individuals more than family law.”
So, even while she works in a more urban environment, McGee is determined not to lose her rural roots.
She said she has gone through some tough times, like anyone might, but those help her to appreciate the good times even more.
For now, in her new job and home in Belwood, life couldn’t be better.
