Karen Louise Busby

Karen Louise Busby died on July 23, 2026, after living graciously with Parkinson’s disease for 15 years. She left this world as she had lived—on her own terms, grateful that Medical Assistance in Dying allowed her to choose the manner and timing of her death.

Karen was born in Edmonton on September 17, 1958 to Dave and Norma (Ingimundson), the eldest daughter in a large and loving family. Her mother was an extraordinary woman who worked as a nurse with the federal government while raising seven children on her own after she and David separated.

On September 3, 2011, Karen married the love of her life, Jan Lederman. Their marriage was marked by deep affection, mutual respect and a sense of adventure.

Karen is lovingly remembered by her wife, Jan Lederman; cherished stepsons Matt Lederman (Heidi Bonnetta) and Patrick Lederman; brother Jim (Angie) and their children Kris (Heather Reeves) and Matt; brother Rob (Elenore), and their children Julie, Rachel (Wendolyn Jordan), and Becky (Matt Saowapon); sister Susan and her son Joey Broda (Katie MacDonald); brother Bruce and his children, Jessie Jakumeit and Scott Busby Drayson; sister Dawn (Steve Venner); and sister Tracey and her children Sul and Rosie Lindsay; great-nephews Henry and Eric Jordan, Daniel Saowapon and Carey Broda; as well as chosen family Doug and Larry, Helen and Jo, John and Michael.

After studying in Manitoba, France, and New York, and working for a major Winnipeg law firm and the Federal Court of Appeal, Karen joined the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba at the age of 29.

Karen loved teaching and received various teaching awards. She considered her students her legacy.

Karen was perhaps best known for challenging Canadians with her prescient research and advocacy on taboo issues.

Her work with the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), Egale Canada, and others helped strengthen legal protections for the private records of sexual assault complainants, limiting queer book and magazine seizures at the Canadian border (Karen argued the case before the Supreme Court of Canada), obtaining marriage equality, and ending discriminatory treatment of same-sex couples.

Karen also challenged conventional thinking about surrogacy, developed legal strategies on First Nations drinking water, co-edited The Idea of a Human Rights Museum and co-wrote Achieving Fairness: A Guide to Campus Sexual Violence Complaints.

Karen respected how news media can collaborate for social justice and encouraged other academics to speak out on issues within their expertise. She weathered predictable backlash for her advocacy, but many of the positions she championed eventually became widely accepted. Her contributions were recognized with honours from the Senate of Canada, the Law Society of Manitoba, the Canadian Bar Association, the Manitoba Bar Association, the YW-YMCA, and Canada’s Queer Hall of Fame.

Later in her career, Karen founded the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Human Rights Research, which helped lay the groundwork for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and the University of Manitoba’s Master of Human Rights program. Karen also created and for 28 years updated the main resource for Manitoba’s judges and civil litigators, colloquially called “Busby’s Rules”.

Karen combined a brilliant legal mind with warmth, wit (occasionally ribald), and generosity. She delighted in spirited conversation, welcomed friends and strangers alike around her table, and had an extraordinary gift for making people feel seen, challenged and encouraged. Those fortunate enough to know her remember not only what she accomplished, but how she made them feel.

Karen possessed a lifelong passion for the visual arts. One of her first jobs as a teenager was at Young Designers, where she met emerging artists who helped shape that lifelong interest. She found time to serve on the boards of various visual arts organizations including a 10-year stint on the board of the Winnipeg Art Gallery–Qaumajuq. Karen and Jan were both avid art collectors and loved to invite people into their home to enjoy their collection.

Karen delighted in concocting elaborate desserts for the dinner parties she and Jan loved to host. She also loved making quilts, creating elaborate Halloween costumes, tending gardens and reading voraciously.

Even in death she left us with a smile: the urn for her cremains is a ceramic cookie jar saved from her childhood, for just this purpose.

Our family is profoundly grateful to Dr. Chantal Braun, Dr. Doug Hobson and the Movement Disorder Clinic staff, as well as the MAID and Palliative Care teams for their excellent care.