She has an LL.M. from Harvard University (1976) and an LL.B. with Distinction (1972) and a B.A. with Distinction (French and Sociology, 1970) from the University of Saskatchewan. In June 2014, she was awarded an LL.D (honoris causa) by the University of Calgary. Prior to her appointment to the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta in 1991, most of her career was spent at the University of Calgary, where she held various positions including Dean, Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Canadian Institute of Resources Law.

From 1981 to 1983, she was corporate counsel to Mobil Oil in Calgary and London, England. From 1973 to 1975, she was legal adviser to the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, in which capacity she travelled extensively in northern Canada. In 2003 during a judicial study leave, she taught in the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law’s program for Inuit law students and was a visitor at the University of Montreal’s Law Faculty. 

She has taught judges and prosecutors in Rwanda about topics such as judicial independence and the rule of law. In October 2014 she was one of four non-Kenyans invited to participate in workshops for judges, lawyers and civic leaders sponsored by Kenya’s Judicial Training Institute. Her presentations concerned the judicial role in resolving inter-governmental disputes under the Canadian federal system and potential lessons for Kenya under its new constitution.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, whose mandate includes educational programs in Cambridge, England and Strasbourg, France for judges and lawyers. She is a past President of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, an organization that among other things presents educational programs to Canadian judges and lawyers. She is also a past Director of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) and its Canadian chapter, having attended IAWJ conferences around the world, including in Tanzania, Uganda, Panama and Argentina. She is a frequent guest and panellist at professional development programs in Canada and abroad. 

She is the author of two books and more than 75 articles. She is fluent in French and speaks intermediate-level Spanish.