Jai, Julie Ramona

• 謝影雲

Julie Jai was born in Canada in 1957 and adopted by Beatrice and Raymond Jai in 1961 and raised as an only child. Growing up in Toronto, she spent her evenings at the Yet Hoy Cantonese Music Club in the city’s Chinatown, accompanying her parents at Cantonese opera practice.

Julie learned to read Chinese music and to sing from her father, and to act on stage from her mother. She developed proficiency in singing and performing a few Cantonese opera titles and appeared in several Yet Hoy shows, often in child or supporting youth female roles. In the early 1970s, she worked summers helping with community efforts to run an Elizabeth Street mall in the changing Chinatown.

Julie attended university in Toronto. She studied chemistry at the University of Toronto before pursuing law, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall at York University in 1980, followed by a Master of Laws from the University of Toronto in 2000, focusing on Aboriginal law. She has served as executive and senior legal counsel with the governments of Ontario, Yukon and Canada, and was the Yukon's Chief Negotiator on self-government negotiations in the justice field.

Julie wed David Trick in 2008; the couple split their time between Toronto and Whitehorse, Yukon Territories. In 2019, they founded the annual Yukon Prize for Visual Arts. Julie served on the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights from 2019 to 2022, and was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Canada in 2022.

Created by June Chow in February 2026.