Margaret Mereigh was born in Trinidad, but soon after was transported at a young age to Vancouver with her family. She enrolled at the University of British Columbia and pursued an undergraduate degree in History and Politics. After graduating she continued at UBC in the LL.B. program, the inspiration to study law having occurred at a young age. "I decided to choose law," recalls Mereigh "because...my father had a set of law books and at a young age of 10...I thought 'oh, this was kinda interesting!'" At law school she volunteered with the Law Student's Legal Advice Program, gaining practical experience by representing low-income clients.
She continued her legal education with an LL.M. at the London School of Economics, and returned to BC at a time when the Crown was bringing on lawyers. Mereigh credits her schooling for ensuring she was one of the lawyers who was hired- "law got me the interview" she says, "but my undergraduate built out my ability to get the job." Once hired, she spent her first few years working on Vancouver Island, arguing both at the trial and appeal level in Nanaimo, as well as travelling to represent the Crown in Parksville, Tofino, and Ucluelet.
Over her career she's seen some interesting changes. Technology has had an incredible impact on the courts and due to this change Mereigh notes "in a period of a day and half I was able to go through more than 100 exhibits with the court." When it came to the role of minorities in the court, Mereigh found being a woman of colour was less significant than being one of the few women with children. She's also noticed that "in the criminal practice...far more self-represented [people]," an indicator of the decreasing ability for many to access legal services.
As a crown prosecutor, she's argued a variety of interesting cases. Perhaps the most intriguing was her work as part of the Crown team prosecuting the Air India Flight 182 bombing. The difficult case took many months, involved the presentation of countless items of evidence, and even required the building of a specialty courtroom for the trial. While such an emotionally charge case may deter others from criminal prosecutions, Mereigh believes strongly in her work in favour of community and of the law. She believes there's importance "to be in service of something greater than yourself," and law as the mechanism that enables society to operate is one of those greater things.
Mereigh speaks fondly of being a lawyer, saying "after being a practitioner for 25 years...there's never been a day where I haven't learned...that is a personal reward." For those just starting their legal career, she has two pieces of advice. First, she believes that it's important to persist, saying "I'm a firm believer that you can have it all, you just have to work at it and perhaps it doesn't happen all at once." Second, she encourages young professionals to aim high. "Pursue and the opportunities will come," she advises "you will be surprised just how many different things you will do in your life and in your career."
Margaret Mereigh was interview for the Peter A Allard School of Law History Project in December 2016.