Dawson joined the Legislation Section of the Department of Justice in 1970 and drafted such laws as the
Access to Information Act, the
Privacy Act, the
Canada Health Act, the
Official Languages Act, the Competition Act, the Customs Act and the
Young Offenders Act. Dawson was made a
Queen's Counsel in 1978. Dawson was associate chief legislative counsel from 1980 to 1986 and chair of the Statute Revision Commission through most of the 1980s. From 1986 to 1995, Dawson was the head of the
Department of Justice Public Law Sector, including the traditional public law areas of
constitutional law,
administrative law and
international law as well as
human rights law, indigenous law, judicial affairs, access and privacy law and regulatory affairs. Dawson had a long career with the
Government of Canada and oversaw a wide variety of legal issues from within the
Department of Justice. She retired in 2005 as associate
deputy minister, a position she had held since 1988. Dawson played an important role in relation to constitutional matters. She was the final drafter for the patriation package (
Constitution Act, 1982) and, until her retirement, drafted, and was the principal legal adviser for, all constitutional amendments, including the
Meech Lake Accord and the
Charlottetown Accord. She led the legal team for the
Government of Canada on the
Quebec Secession Reference and was responsible for the legal advice on, and drafting of, the
Clarity Act. Dawson also managed the
Supreme Court Reference on
same-sex marriage for the Government of Canada as well as the preparation of the related legislation. She advised extensively in the area of aboriginal rights. Dawson was a Skelton-Clark Fellow at
Queen's University in the 1999–2000 academic year, where she lectured in several faculties. She also published several articles on various subjects. Dawson retired from the Department of Justice in 2005. After her retirement, Dawson acted as a consultant on a variety of projects, in both the public and private sectors. In June 2006, she was appointed to the Board of Governors of the
Ottawa Hospital, and served on a number of board committees. In 2014 she joined the Board of Help Lesotho. Dawson was also involved in a number of international activities, as well as various outreach activities in Canada. She held executive positions in the
International Bar Association and was a Canadian member of the Joint Steering Committee of the Joint Canada-Russia project on Public Administration Reform in
Russia. Dawson was named a Member of the
Order of Canada in 2007. ==Justin Trudeau==