Editors – Allen Mendelsohn & Larry Markowitz

President’s Message

Gregory Azancot

Dear Colleagues, Honourable Judges, and Friends of the Society,

Last week was, as they say, different. It was different for me personally for reasons that had nothing to do with the Society. Last week marked 30 years since my alma mater, my city, people that I knew and some that I did not were touched by tragedy. I think it is important to highlight this day and the lives of all the victims. I was going to make this central to our annual human rights dinner, but alas it was not to be.

While we have been in the news lately, I am of the strong opinion that we have nothing with which to reproach ourselves. We are a volunteer association of human rights lawyers and we have as a mandate – and indeed a duty – to stand up for human rights and the rule of law . This is the same mandate we’ve pursued for 71 years and counting.

Regardless of whether or not you personally believe in the underlying societal change that Bill 21 proposes to bring about, you should respect the fact that in a free and democratic society, a human rights association like ours is entitled to express its views in both the court of public opinion and the court of law.

We chose to postpone our December 10, 2019 dinner conference. However, the Society, through its human rights committee, has been active in that it filed our intervention. On behalf of the Society, I want to thank Teddy Goloff for acting pro bono on our behalf.

I look forward to seeing all of you at our January 15, 2020 dinner event, featuring noted hall of fame goaltender, Minister, lawyer and award-winning author, the Honourable Ken Dryden, as well as at all of our other fantastic events for the rest of the season, which you can see here. I also want to thank Me Frederick Pinto for speaking and hosting us at our first Members-only CLE breakfast on November 20th, which you can read about further down in this newsletter.

As the festival of lights and the holiday season approach, I take this opportunity to wish all of our members, dinner sponsors, speakers and friends much health and happiness.

Gregory Azancot, President
Lord Reading Law Society

Advocacy Notwithstanding the Notwithstanding Clause

Larry Markowitz

On September 24, Dean Robert Leckey of McGill University’s Faculty of Law delivered the 2019 edition of the Alan B. Gold Lecture. This annual lecture, named in honour of the late eminent Jewish jurist, and former Quebec Superior Court chief justice, Alan B. Gold, OC, OQ, is devoted to the art of advocacy.

Before a packed house, comprised of some of Quebec’s most prominent legal minds, Dean Leckey gave an eloquent and critical overview of the new ways in which governments in Canada have been evoking section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights of Freedoms, known as the “notwithstanding clause”.

This trend showed itself last year when Ontario premier Doug Ford threatened to use the override to pass his law cutting the size of Toronto’s city council. However, of far greater consequence—and far greater interest to the Lord Reading audience—Quebec premier François Legault’s government recently invoked the notwithstanding clause in passing Bill 21 – An Act respecting the laicity of the State.

In the past, governments would at least wait for a law to be declared unconstitutional by the courts before invoking the notwithstanding clause. Under the new paradigm, governments are attempting to shield their legislation from constitutional challenge ahead of time by including the required language in the initial version of their legislation. They do not even show any pretense of attempting to demonstrate that the harm from the legislation’s infringement of a right is proportionate to the benefits, as would normally be required under the Oakes Test pursuant to section 1 of the Charter, which allows reasonable limitations on rights and freedoms through legislation if it can be “demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society”.

The litmus test used to be the reasonableness of a limitation on rights. Now, the test is becoming the comfort level of the majority with the degree to which rights are infringed, said our guest speaker.

In the past, jurists opposed to a law would simply have to prove it infringes on the Canadian Charter of Rights of Freedoms. Under the new paradigm, jurists face a greater challenge. They will need to be “bold, ambitious, and imaginative in drawing on our constitutional resources” when defending individuals in the face of rights-infringing legislation.

The notwithstanding clause does not allow ALL Charter rights to be infringed upon; only a select list of rights.

“When the legislature of Quebec invoked section 33 to shield Bill 21, some people seemed to assume that the entire Charter was off the table.”

Thus, the notwithstanding clause must be read restrictively.

“Advocates might helpfully remind judges that the judiciary should give section 33 its due, but not an inch more. This proposition is consistent with construing exceptions narrowly. After all, section 33 is plainly an exception to the Charter’s protection of rights and freedoms.”

For example, the notwithstanding clause is not allowed to override section 28:

28. Notwithstanding anything else in this Charter, the rights and freedoms in it are guaranteed equally to male and female persons.

It will be interesting to see how the Courts respond to a challenge to Bill 21 based on infringement of women’s rights under section 28. Arguments are already being advanced to the effect that hijab-wearing women are the primary population affected by the Laicity law: Opponents of the law are arguing that women feel the effects of Bill 21 far more than do men.

Even if the notwithstanding clause is successfully invoked by the legislator, the courts will at least have occasion to explain to the citizenry in what ways their rights are being infringed. Section 33 does not prevent a court from reviewing a law; only from declaring it inoperable.

“To be clear, such a declaration would not stop the challenged law’s application, but it might still be valuable. Citizens would gain a clearer understanding of the law’s impact on rights.”

Jurisprudence tells us what a government needs to do to invoke the section 33 override. But the courts have dealt little with the effects of doing so, and of what happens next. “That is uncharted territory”, observed Dean Leckey.

For instance, hijab-wearing education students or immigrant teachers in the process of acquiring credentials to teach in Quebec who are denied employment will argue they have suffered monetary losses. What will stop them from seeking damages from the Quebec Government for the foreseeable harms of operative legislation?

And plenty more “bold, ambitious, and imaginative” arguments will surely be advanced in cases challenging laws for which the notwithstanding clause has been pre-emptively invoked. Interesting times lie ahead, with plenty of case law still to be written by the courts.

***********************

Dean Leckey’s speech to the Lord Reading Law Society has been published in the University of Alberta Faculty of Law’s Centre for Constitutional Studies journal, Constitutional Forum Journal. You can read it here.

A full set of photos from the evening can be found on our Facebook page

Is free speech online really free?

Larry Markowitz

You can watch the lecture above, or on YouTube

Is free speech online really free? Does the law protect even the worst internet trolls?

On November 20, Internet law expert Me Frederick Pinto of Pinto Legal answered these and other questions in his talk entitled “Protecting Freedom of Speech Online”.

This was the first of this season’s Members-only CLE breakfasts at Lord Reading. A good number of members showed up in the early hours of the morning to enjoy bagels, lox and cream cheese—and coffee—while learning about freedom of speech on the internet. The event was held at the Old Montreal offices of local media and entertainment success story Stingray Group, where the décor is more ‘tech start-up’ than at our usual venue.

* * *

Nowadays, anybody can be their own media company. However, to get a message out to a wide audience, one needs to use a platform provided by one of the three major social media companies—Facebook/Instagram, Google/YouTube or Twitter.

Yet each of those three behemoths self-police their channels. If a nameless and faceless employee of, say, Facebook decides your message is inappropriate, that Facebook employee has the power to shut you down. You might go from thousands of followers to zero, and if the other two major platform providers also ban you, then you will no longer have access to a wide audience (Of course, other social media sites exist, but they enjoy a much narrower reach).

“If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.”

― US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Whitney v. California (1927)

To date, there have been two paradigms for regulating media channels:

1. The Content Publisher model: Newspapers fall under this category. They must fact check and can be sued for libel and the effects of publishing falsehoods.
2. The Conduit model: The telephone company cannot be sued for malicious content that is fed through the “pipes” it provides.

In the modern era, though, social media platforms serve as both a conduit (like the telephone companies of yore), but also exercise editorial power—by reserving the right to ban content they find objectionable.

Our speaker suggested that a hybrid of these two regulatory models is needed to circumscribe the extraordinary editorial power wielded by the three major social media providers. Me Pinto recommends a framework that more closely resembles the ways in which freedom of speech has been regulated in society until now:

1. Freedom of speech should be defined as society has always defined it.
2. There should be judicial review of some form.
3. There should be a territorial element, even though social media platforms are global (i.e., where are the effects of a social media post felt?); and
4. There should be a possibility of claiming restitution in the form of monetary damages and of an arbiter of some sort with the power to order social media companies to reinstate bloggers and other ‘posters’ who are found to have been merely exercising their freedom of speech.

“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself.”
― Oscar Wilde

Despite the early hour of his talk, much discussion was provoked by Me Pinto. Will there ever be changes to the framework within which social media platforms operate? Is it even possible to get state and corporate actors on the same page? Time will tell … but if they are looking for inspiration, they would do well to consult Frederick Pinto!

A full set of photos from the event can be found on our Facebook page

Don’t forget your Lord Reading Membership!

It’s never too late for you to renew your membership or become a member for the first time. Membership offers significant discounts for dinner-meetings and with our updated pricing for this season you’ll be saving even more! You’ll also get exclusive access to the great members-only CLE events which we have planned. We’d love to have you as a member!

You can become a member online here or alternatively, you may download the membership form here. Membership has its privileges!

Society Humour

News from the Mispacha

Condolences

• To the family of longtime friend of the Society The Honourable Melvin Rothman, retired justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal

Editors – Allen Mendelsohn & Larry Markowitz

President’s Message

Gregory Azancot

Dear Colleagues, Honourable Judges, and Friends of the Society,

I often find the waning days of summer bittersweet and it brings me back to my childhood where despite not wanting the freedom of the summer holidays to end, there was always that tinge of excitement as to what the next school year would bring. While those days of riding my bike around the neighbourhood without a care in the world are now just great memories, that tinge of excitement as to what this next year will bring has come over me stronger than ever.

I am thrilled and honoured to lead the Lord Reading Law Society this year. I want to immediately thank the executive and several Board members who have been beyond generous with their time and whose wise counsel I have called upon, and will surely continue to call upon throughout the year. That we are such a dynamic volunteer organization is truly amazing and the energy is contagious.

The Society continues to raise the bar regarding its involvement in the Québec legal landscape as well as with its dinner conference program and this year is no exception.

Our season will begin on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, with the annual Alan B. Gold Advocacy Lecture. On this occasion, we will have the pleasure of welcoming Professor Robert Leckey, Dean of McGill University’s Faculty of Law, who’s timely topic will be “Advocacy notwithstanding the notwithstanding clause”. The lecture promises to be enthralling and provocative, and I invite all of you to register for this event by clicking here. I remind you that the early bird special ends this Thursday, September 19, 2019.

The other speakers that we have confirmed to date are Ken Dryden, former federal minister, prolific author and Hockey Hall of Famer on January 15, 2020, Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown, who will speak at our annual student dinner on February 6, 2020, as well as lawyer Marie Henein, one of Canada’s leading authorities on criminal law who defended, amongst others, Jian Ghomeshi, and more recently, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. We are also proud to be continuing our special tradition of hosting an event in partnership with the Israeli Consulate of Montreal, by welcoming Justice Hanan Melcer, Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Israel, who will honour us with his presence on May 21, 2020. As usual, all of these events will be CLE-accredited by the Barreau du Québec and la Chambre des notaires.

You have already received the notice to renew your annual membership in the Lord Reading Law Society. I encourage you to pay your membership dues, as we count on those funds to help contribute to the health of the Society, and to support the continuing program of outstanding speakers the Society has established. You will also benefit from significant discounts on dinner-meeting prices and be eligible to attend members-only CLE events. You can register and pay your membership fees online, or alternatively, you may download the paper membership form.

I look forward to seeing all of you at the opening dinner on September 24, 2019, and at all of our other events throughout the 2019-20 season, so as to perpetuate the unique Lord Reading spirit of camaraderie.

I wish you all a Shana Tova, filled with health and happiness.

Gregory Azancot, President
Lord Reading Law Society

Professor Lametti Goes to Ottawa

Larry Markowitz

The closing dinner of our 70th Anniversary season took place on June 11, 2019, and featured a talk by the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (and longtime friend of the Society, as well as former law professor to many of our members).

After a heartfelt and sometimes humourous introduction by the Society’s very own Allen Mendelsohn, whose master’s thesis was supervised by then-professor Lametti, Minister Lametti (or “Dave”, as Allen couldn’t keep from calling him) recounted the story of how, as a young man from small-town Ontario, he ended up in Montreal studying law at McGill University.

Mr. Lametti then proceeded to explain the importance he accords to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the role of the Justice Minister in ensuring that Canada remains a just society.

Of course, being a politician with a general election fast approaching, he also outlined several of his government’s achievements in the realm of justice, making reference to updates to family law, the legalization of cannabis, and the nomination of judges who reflect the diversity of Canada’s population, as well as various initiatives relating to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

Early in his speech, Minister Lametti paid a compliment to the Lord Reading audience, remarking that he was honoured to speak before a “room filled with people who are passionate about human rights and the Charter”. In particular, he acknowledged former federal justice minister Irwin Cotler and former Quebec justice minister Herbert Marx, both of whom were seated at the head table.

* * *

David Lametti was born in Port Colborne, Ontario to Italian immigrant parents who sacrificed to ensure their four children would be afforded the opportunities they had lacked. For his parents, being a successful person meant being a good person: Hard work, faith, inclusion and kindness were key values he was taught at home.

Minister Lametti played hockey and worked hard at school—while also volunteering for the Liberal Party of Canada from a young age—eventually completing an undergraduate degree in political science and economics at the University of Toronto. This was in the early 1980’s when Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was repatriating our constitution.

At the time, Mr. Lametti was finding his voice, while observing the debates surrounding the repatriation process—making him truly a “Child of the Charter”. He was drawn to the Charter’s basic principle that, regardless of who you are, you are protected and have the right to be heard.

When it came time to choose a law school, he decided to study in Montreal, in a part of the country he did not know all that well. It probably helped that Lametti was already a Montreal Canadiens fan!

In the presence of Dean Robert Leckey of the McGill University Faculty of Law, who was also seated at the head table, Minister Lametti paid tribute to the value of a McGill Law degree. Unfortunately, we didn’t record Mr. Lametti’s testimonial, but it would have served as an excellent recruiting tool for Dean Leckey!

Not only did our guest speaker earn two law degrees at McGill, but he also met his future wife there! Indeed, Mrs. Lametti—McGill Law Professor Geneviève Saumier—was also seated at the head table.

McGill Law has the unique combination of being bilingual and bi-juridical. Studying at McGill and then teaching there for some 20 years had a huge influence on our guest speaker. Wherever he looks, he sees McGill Law graduates having an influence—be it in politics, as public servants or in Non-Governmental Organizations. This is the result of the “public service ethic” instilled by McGill Law—a legacy that has directly, and indirectly, shaped Canada, along with institutions all over the world where McGill Law graduates play key roles.

Mr. Lametti made specific mention of two role models who inspired him as he set out in his career as a lawyer: The late Rod MacDonald, former dean of the McGill Law Faculty, and former Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory, for whom our guest speaker clerked prior to attending Yale Law and Oxford.

Both of these gentlemen ingrained in Mr. Lametti an ethical approach to the law and a deep respect for the importance of equality. They showed a commitment to those who worked with them, treating them with respect and allowing their voices to be heard. In other words, they were living examples of the “value of being kind”.

* * *

In this era of rapid technological change, where the power of big data and artificial intelligence threaten our privacy rights, the importance of protecting the rights of the individual is as important as ever.

Professor Lametti is most proud when he sees his former students using their legal skills to give back to their chosen communities. In today’s tumultuous global landscape, more than ever, we need leaders with the sort of respect for the rule of law imparted by the McGill Faculty of Law, and indeed imparted upon the Lord Reading Law Society by the Honourable David Lametti!

A full set of photos from the evening can be found on our Facebook page

Don’t forget your Lord Reading Membership!

It’s that time of year! Time for you to renew your membership, or become a member for the first time! Membership offers significant discounts for dinner-meetings and with our updated pricing for this season you’ll be saving even more! You’ll also get exclusive access to the great members-only CLE events which we have planned. We’d love to have you as a member!

You can become a member online here or alternatively, you may download the membership form here. Membership has its privileges!

Society Humour

News from the Mispacha

Mazel Tov

• To Society member The Honourable Nicholas Kasirer on being appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada
• To Society members and friends Stéphane Lacoste and Patrick Buchholz on being named to the Superior Court of Quebec
• To Society member The Honourable Irwin Cotler on being named to the Canada-UK Media Freedom High Level Panel of Legal Experts
• To Society member The Honourable Morton Minc on being inducted into the Ordre national du Québec
• To Society members The Honourable Joseph Robert Nuss, C.M., Q.C. and Mitch Garber, C.M. on being named to the Order of Canada

Condolences

• To the Society Board member Tibor Holländer on the loss of his mother Sara Hersco Holländer

Editors – Allen Mendelsohn & Larry Markowitz

President’s Message

Inna Nekhim

Dear Colleagues, Honourable Judges, and Friends of the Society,

Our 70th Anniversary season will come to a close on June 11, 2019 with another hot ticket legal event, a talk by the Justice Minister of Canada, David Lametti; but before we conclude, I would like to take stock of everything that we, the Society, have accomplished this season.

Before the official start of our season, the Society managed to accomplish two great feats. For the first one, we produced a video tribute to the Lord Reading Law Society, a film which showcased our history, passion for law, justice and the people who have made the Society what it is today, our past presidents. This film was a labour of love and it really captured the Society’s spirit. If you have not yet seen the full film produced by the Society for this occasion, I encourage you to view it on our website. Thank you to Neil Hazan and Ashley Kandestin for this beautifully executed project.

The second feat was inaugurating a newly redesigned and improved website, which helped to keep us current and relevant in today’s world and keep you informed of our achievements and events during the year. My personal and Society’s thanks go out to our Communications Director, Allen Mendelsohn, for his hard work on this  project (and many others!).

Looking Back on the Season

Our official season started off on October 24, 2018, with a Gala celebration of the Society’s 70th anniversary. Our special guest of the night was The Right Honourable Justice McLachlin, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who talked to us about “Living with Diversity”, a most timely topic and one that is close to the heart of our Society. In recognition of Justice McLachlin’s friendship and support of the Society, we presented her with an honourary membership during the Gala dinner.

Not even a month later, on November 20th, we held our season’s first, members-only breakfast, at the offices of Lapointe Rosenstein Marchand and Melançon, on the very current topic of the “New Cannabis Legislation – What You Need to Know”. Me Alexa Rahal and Me Stephanie Marcotte gave a thoughtful and informative presentation on the newest legislation which has far-reaching effects on so many areas of law.

Without taking much pause, we flew straight to our next event (no pun intended!) on December 6th, with an interesting and informative talk from the engaging Me Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada’s Senior Vice President, People and Culture, responsible for overall leadership for human resources, labour relations, communications, and culture change initiatives across the company. As a member of Air Canada’s executive team since September 2013, Me Meloul-Wechsler gave us an insider’s only look into the inner workings of one of Canada’s most iconic companies.

The new year opened with our Annual Student Dinner on January 31st. Our esteemed guest was The Honourable Suzanne Côté, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, who showed her willingness to share her wealth of knowledge and experience with the young lawyers in our audience, by giving a talk entitled “Building your practice as a young litigator”. During the same dinner, we honoured the memory of the late Justice Michael Stober, awarded prizes to exceptional law students from five of the province’s law faculties and celebrated two of our members, an attorney and a student, Donald R. Michelin and Stephanie Perlis, as the Justice Minister Sonia Lebel awarded them Le prix du Ministre de la Justice – Lord Reading, for their tireless work on behalf of the Society and beyond, promoting access to justice and human rights.

Our Annual Henry Steinberg dinner was held on March 13th and we were honoured to welcome the 18th Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney as the Society’s guest speaker. The dinner and speech were a resounding success, and the audience was once again reminded of the personal charisma and power of presence of one of Canada’s greatest leaders. Mr. Mulroney’s address to the Society on the issue of Anti-Semitism was picked up by both national and local press, once again raising our Society’s profile and highlighting its importance to the public.

Our second members-only CLE breakfast of the season was held on March 19th at the offices of Borden Ladner Gervais, on the topic of “Legal Strategies to Protect Your Clients from Ever-Sophisticated Fraudsters”, and was presented by Me Daniel Grodinsky and Me Kevin Mailloux, who gave the sold-out room practical advice on how to help our clients and keep one step ahead of the fraudsters.

We continued a tradition that began last season with our second annual members-only Young Bar CLE event on April 17th, but updated it with a brand new, 5 à 7 format. The event was held at the offices of Stein & Stein and featured our very own Allen Mendelsohn, McGill law lecturer and internet law expert, with an always timely presentation on the topic of “The Legal and Privacy Implications of Online Cannabis Purchases in Canada”.  Wonderfully successful for the second year in a row, this event is sure to become a staple in the Society’s calendar.

On May 2nd, we held our annual Alan B. Gold advocacy lecture and because this year is a special anniversary year for the Society, the talk was extra special as well, as we welcomed the late Justice Gold’s son, Senator Marc Gold as our guest speaker.  Senator Gold let us all in on a few secrets of the behind the scenes workings of the Senate, this venerable Canadian institution, and master class skills that are required to try and achieve one’s goals as an independent Senator. For further details, please see Larry’s report below.

Experienced lawyers and Society’s executives mingled with law students, stagiaires and young lawyers at the Young Bar Cocktails on May 29th, organized by our Young Bar Committee Chairs, Matthew Pekofsky and Ashley Kandestin, at Escondite Cerveceria de Barrio, where the fiesta atmosphere helped everyone to network and enjoy themselves.

Our Next Event

Our final event of the 70th Anniversary season will take place on June 11, with a talk by the Justice Minister and Attorney-General of Canada, David Lametti, on the subject of, what else, justice and the government.

I would like to thank our evening sponsor, Dentons, for their support of the Society. Thank you also to the firm of McCarthy Tétrault for their table sponsorship.

An early registration discount will be available for Society members who register by Thursday, June 4th. You can register online on the website.

________________________________________________________________________

A Bill 21 Update

Despite the Society’s already full social schedule, our members did not forget their primary objective of standing up for human rights, and the Society’s Human Rights Committee, chaired by Frank Schlesinger and co-chaired by Robert Steinman, produced and submitted to the National Assembly a memorandum outlining the Society’s opposition to the proposed Bill 21, the Bill that would restrict the ability of certain individuals to wear religious symbols while working for the government.  I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Frank Schlesinger, Theodore Goloff, Robert Steinman, Tibor Hollander and Stephane Lacoste for their tireless efforts in producing and drafting this and related documents, which are now available for your viewing on our website. I would also like to suggest you read a great interview with Frank Schlesinger on the subject in The Canadian Jewish News.

Despite having been denied a viva voce hearing, a portion of the Society’s Memorandum did make it into the hearings on the Bill 21 when it was cited by David Birnbaum, MNA for D’Arcy-McGee during his address to the National Assembly. I encourage you to watch the video online.

________________________________________________________________________

In Closing

As my mandate as your President comes to an end, I would like to thank you all for the confidence that you have shown me and for the honour of serving this Society during its 70th year.  It has been a privilege to be your President, and I could not have done it without the support of so many people, Past Presidents, Directors, and friends, who have freely shared their advice and experience with me. Thank you Allen, Larry, David, Heather, Nancy and Robin and many others, I could not have done it without your advice, hard work and support throughout this season. A special thank you to Hershie Frankel and Lara Malewski for their behind the scenes work which allows our events to run smoothly but often remains unseen to the uninitiated.

Gregory Azancot will be your new President and he will be inaugurated on June 11th. I am certain that under his leadership the Society will continue its important work and will only become stronger.

I hope you will join me on June 11th and look forward to seeing you!

May the Society continue to go from strength to strength!

Sincerely,

Inna Nekhim

President, 2018-2019

Advocacy in the Senate: The Gold Standard

Larry Markowitz

On May 2, 2019, our annual Alan B. Gold advocacy was extra meaningful, as the featured guest speaker was none other the late Chief Justice Gold’s son, Senator Marc Gold.

Drawing on lessons passed down by his late father, as well as the basic constitutional principles upon which our country was built, Senator Gold took us on a tour of the Senate, providing us with insights into behind-the-scenes machinations and political manoeuvering that takes place in, and around, the Upper Chamber–like a three-dimensional game of chess.

In particular, Senator Gold demonstrated how lessons he had learned from his late father continue to influence his advocacy efforts in the Senate on a daily basis. Those advocacy efforts are directed both towards convincing the Conservative senators who sit across the aisle or persuading Senator Gold’s fellow “Independent Senators Group” (a “motley crew” that is far from a homogeneous set of Senators formerly known as “Liberals”, as some may think).

As Mick Jagger has been known to say (or sing), “You can’t always get what you want”, but Senator Gold demonstrated (less lyrically), through the art of advocacy, our country gets what it needs.

At the base of Senator Gold’s advocacy efforts lie three basic skills passed down by Chief Justice Gold to his son: stop, look and listen:

• Stop: You are not the smartest guy in the room. In the Senate, there is a vast range of knowledge from which each senator can benefit.
• Look: Observe the various groups in the Senate. Consider their motivations. Even though it is an appointed body, the Senate is, nevertheless, a political institution.
• Listen: You need “big ears” to succeed in the Senate. Listen to both your allies and your opponents on the issue at hand.

The most important tool at a senator’s disposal is the art of advocacy. A senator must advocate in committee, in public, and with his or her colleagues. The ability to persuade is the basis for success.

The Senate is an institution in transition. It is meant to be a house of sober second thought and its rules are designed for an adversarial system with one political party on each side of the House–a binary system, if you will. However, with the advent of the “independent senators” who do not take instruction from a party leader in the House of Commons and do not vote as a block—while the Tory senators often still do—makes for new and evolving dynamics. The Senate is now a body where groups form based on the issue at hand—a Senate that is still seen as partisan by some senators, but less partisan by others. Indeed some senators lack political experience altogether, while others are former members of parliament or political party activists.

In trying to persuade his colleagues, Senator Gold again draws upon lessons learned from his late father:

1. Ensure your persuasive speech is based on principles.
2. Be reasonable in how you present. It is best if your argument is seen as the middle ground, rather than as an extreme position. Acknowledge opposing views in your arguments.
3. Know your audience and craft your rhetoric in consequence.

Trying to convince the motley crew of independent senators is more like pleading before a panel of judges than just one judge. Each independent senator has unique concerns and a different worldview and life experience.

Senator Gold closed his talk with some final lessons from Chief Justice Gold:

• Never say never;
• Never stop learning;
• Never lose your sense of humour;
• Never give up: take the long view; and
• The art of compromise is important (See Mick Jagger quote above!)

In the political arena where Senator Gold now finds himself, these lessons are the key to success.

This year’s Alan B. Gold memorial advocacy lecture had more significance than ever before, as the lessons imparted by the late Chief Justice over the course of his career in advocacy formed the very essence of our guest speaker’s presentation – and that guest speaker was Justice Gold’s very own son.

A full set of photos from the evening can be found on our Facebook page

Society Humour

News from the Mispacha

Mazel Tov

• To Society member the Honourable Irwin Cotler who received an honourary Doctor of Laws from McGill University at convocation
• To Society member Marie-Christine Kirouack, Ad.E. who will be receiving Le Mérite du Barreau du Québec on June 11th, “pour son apport significatif au développement et à l’avancement du droit en matière familiale, et pour son inestimable travail de démystification des problèmes de santé mentale que peuvent vivre les avocats”, according to the Barreau
• To Society Board member Elliot Lifson on receiving the Morty Yalovsky Distinguished Teaching Award from the McGill Desautels school of management

Condolences

• To the family of Society member and dear friend The Honourable Benjamin J. Greenberg Q.C.

Editors – Allen Mendelsohn & Larry Markowitz

President’s Message

Inna Nekhim

Dear Colleagues, Honourable Judges, and Friends of the Society,

On March 13, 2019, we were honoured to welcome the 18th Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, as the Society’s guest speaker for our annual Henry Steinberg Lecture. The dinner and speech were a resounding success, and the audience was once again reminded of the personal charisma and power of presence of one of Canada’s great leaders.

We welcomed many distinguished guests including a former Premier of Quebec, former Quebec cabinet ministers, representatives, both past and present, from the Bars of Quebec and Montreal, and judges from various levels of courts, including the Honourable Justices Côté and Brown from the Supreme Court of Canada. For Justice Brown, this was his very first Lord Reading event and one which, by his own admission, he will remember with great fondness.

Mr. Mulroney captivated our hearts and minds with his talk where he stressed the importance of moral leadership and the dangers of standing idly by while dangerous ideologies, such as anti-Semitism, are allowed to go unchecked.  Mr. Mulroney’s address to the Society on the issue of anti-Semitism was picked up by both national and local press, once again raising our Society’s profile and highlighting its importance to the public.

You can read more about the evening in Larry’s article below.

On April 17th, we held this year’s second annual members-only Young Bar CLE event in a brand new 5 à 7 format, at the offices of Stein & Stein. The 5 à 7 featured our very own Allen Mendelsohn, McGill Law lecturer and Internet law expert with an always timely presentation on the topic of “The Legal and Privacy Implications of Online Cannabis Purchases in Canada”.  The room was full of young lawyers, who sipped and ate in the relaxed atmosphere of the grand mansion, all the while picking up valuable legal insights and CLE credits. The event was a sold out and we expect it to become a fixture in our Society’s calendar. Again, Larry provides more details below.

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On May 2nd, 2019, we will be holding our annual Alan B. Gold advocacy lecture and for this extra special anniversary year of the Society, we will make our annual tribute lecture extra special as well, as we welcome the late Justice Gold’s son, Senator Marc Gold, as our guest speaker.  Senator Gold will allow us all a sneak peek behind the curtains of the Senate to learn more about this venerable Canadian institution and its value to society, with his talk entitled Advocacy in the Senate: The Gold Standard.  Senator Gold will be introduced by the Honourable Nicholas Kasirer of the Quebec Court of Appeal. I am looking forward to what promises to be a very special presentation and look forward to seeing many of you there as well!

I would like to thank our generous sponsors Davies for their support. The dinner will be eligible for CLE from both the Barreau du Québec and the Chambre des notaires du Québec.

Dinner registration:

An early registration discount will be available for Society members who register by Friday, April 26th. You can register online here, or the paper invitation to mail in a cheque is here.

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The Society’s 70th anniversary year is coming to a close, but not before we end it in grand style with Society’s annual Young Bar Cocktail on May 29th followed by our closing dinner on June 11th, 2019, when we welcome Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti as our featured guest speaker. Please mark your calendars!

I hope you will join us and I look forward to welcoming you all very soon!

Sincerely,

Inna Nekhim, President

The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney: Leadership, Free Trade and a Strong Canada

Larry Markowitz

For our Annual Henry Steinberg dinner, on March 13, 2019, we were pleased to welcome The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th prime minister.

To help us focus on what is important in today’s complex world, Mr. Mulroney drew on his first-hand experience in the corridors of power and his expert knowledge in his talk entitled, “Leadership, Free Trade and a Strong Canada”.

Before a packed house of some 300 members and friends of Lord Reading, including two current Supreme Court justices and one former Quebec premier‎, plus a contingent of chief justices, other judges, retired justices, current and former bâtonniers and law school deans, Prime Minister Mulroney taught a master class in leadership, and more specifically, reminded us of the importance of leadership in public policy.

“Achievement occurs when challenge meets leadership.”
-The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney

Citing great leaders he met during his time in politics, Mr. Mulroney conveyed a sense of what makes a true leader. For example, even one New York Times columnist who opposed most of Ronald Reagan’s policies had to admit that President Reagan had the charisma that makes a great leader, namely “that ineffable, and sometimes magical quality that sets some men and women apart so that millions will follow them as they conjure up new visions and invite their countrymen to dream big and exciting dreams”.

Whether negotiating free trade‎ or standing against anti-Semitism and apartheid, a prime minister must show leadership and govern for the history books rather than this week’s opinion polls. He or she must look to the next generation; not merely the next election.

As we face rapid technological change, there are people who feel threatened. Populist leaders leverage that fear. However, when fear and anger fuel the public debate, history teaches us that “protectionist impulses can easily become a convenient hand-maiden.” As the father of free trade in this country, Mr. Mulroney is certainly opposed to protectionism!

Without naming the current occupant of the White House, he did allude to protectionist tendencies in the United States. He complimented the current Canadian leadership for the patience they showed in eventually negotiating a modernized NAFTA. The modernized free trade agreement (USMCA) maintains, protects and preserves North American free trade and, in particular, Canadian trade with the United States, which was Canada’s main objective.

Another area that requires leadership is the fight against anti-Semitism. As prime minister, Mr. Mulroney took a strong stand against such discrimination. Indeed, a true leader fights for minority rights, rather than dodging the issue:

In Dante’s Inferno it is noted that ‘the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis, strive to maintain their neutrality’.

As presidential adviser David Gergen once wrote of President Gerald Ford,

Leaders everywhere [should] pay less attention to daily polls and more attention to their inner voices: Give up the slavish obedience to popular opinion so embedded in politics today, and take up the standard of what’s right, even when it threatens one’s political survival.

Many current political leaders should heed these wise words.

Prime Minister Mulroney closed his talk with this inspiring passage:

If all of us remember that freedom and liberty and the protection of minority rights are the very pillars of our national democracy, we can collectively make a contribution to the well-being of mankind that will bring honour to Canada and peace and prosperity to all her citizens.

A full set of photos from the evening can be found on our Facebook page

Whoa, dude! Allen Mendelsohn talks data privacy at our Young Bar 5 à 7

Larry Markowitz

On April 17, 2019, we held our first-ever Young Bar Members-only 5 à 7 at the Westmount offices of Stein & Stein. It was a huge success!

The evening featured a captivating presentation by Allen Mendelsohn, McGill Law lecturer and Internet law expert (and Lord Reading Communications Director). His topic was torn from the headlines: “The Legal and Privacy Implications of Online Cannabis Purchases in Canada” (aka “Whoa, dude, I bought weed online! But that may have been a mistake; they know where I am now…”).

Who needs to smoke cannabis to become paranoid when you can simply listen to Allen’s speech!

• What happens if the credit card you use to make a purchase on one of the provincial government cannabis sales websites is disclosed via a data breach? After all, there’s a one-in-four chance that a data breach will occur …
• Is your credit card data protected by provincial privacy legislation? Is it protected by the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)?
• What subcontractors are the provincial cannabis dispensaries using to store your data? Why are the names of those payment processors not indicated in the fine print? Do the provincial cannabis dispensaries, who built their websites at the last minute even know what payment processors their websites use?
• What if your credit card data is stored on a server located outside the province? Or outside the country? Perhaps that server is located in the United States, where a request from enforcement authorities under the USA Freedom Act (formerly known as the Patriot Act) could give U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents knowledge of your cannabis purchasing habits? Good luck ever getting into the United States again …..

While listening to Allen’s informative (and paranoia-inducing) presentation, the young lawyers in attendance ate sushi and smoked salmon, enjoyed some refreshing beverages and had a chance to do some pre- and post-speech networking. And now they know to heed the advice of the Privacy Commissioner:

“If you are concerned about using your credit card…
consider using cash to purchase cannabis.”
– The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

A great time was had by all! Some photos of the event can be found on our Facebook page.

Save the dates!

Don’t forget these amazing events planned for the rest of the season, so save these dates!

May 29, 2019 – The always-fun annual Young Bar cocktail! Details to come.

June 11, 2019 – Dinner-meeting featuring David Lametti, Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada

Registration for these events will open in the weeks leading up to those dates. Keep an eye on your email for more information.

Continuing Legal Education and the Society

Allen Mendelsohn and Hershie Frankel, CLE Chair

We wish to remind you that a new CLE period for the Barreau has begun, starting April 1st. Get your credits early! Don’t forget that becoming a Lord Reading member entitles you access to free, members-only CLE events.

You may have heard that there are new rules from the Barreau for the new two-year period. For the Society, however, nothing will change. We will continue to have our events pre-approved for CLE, and will continue to issue certificates. These certificates will guarantee that your CLE from Lord Reading will be valid, in contrast to any “self-reported” CLE which could be refused by the Barreau.

The Society looks forward to helping you get your CLE hours for many years to come!

Society Humour

News from the Mispacha

Mazel Tov

• To very good friend of the Society Me Doris Larrivée on her retirement from her position as Director-General of the Bar of Montreal after 17 years, and at the Bar for more than 27 years. We wish her all the best;
• To Society Board member Judge Morton S. Minc on being awarded the John F. Lemieux Medal from Concordia University