Beverley McLachlin has been at the centre of the construction of our modern constitutional identity in her quarter-century tenure on the Supreme Court of Canada. She was appointed to the Court as the country emerged from an important period of transition, just as new constitutional doctrines were forming and new institutional dynamics were realigning the relationship between our courts and legislatures. Chief Justice McLachlin leaves a juridical legacy that has made Canada a better, fairer and more equal place, and our Constitution the envy of the world. She leaves an equally important legacy as an expositor and guardian of our constitutional values.