NEWSLETTER – January 2013
Mara Greenstone, President
Allen Mendelsohn and Larry Markowitz, Editor(s)
President’s Message
Mara Greenstone
Dear Colleagues and Honourable Judges,
I would like to wish all of you and your families the very best for a happy and healthy 2013.
Our last lecture of the 2012 season was a huge success. We were privileged to welcome the Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. We were thrilled that our guest speaker was able to mingle with our members at the cocktail and learn more about the Society.
Our next event, which will be taking place on Thursday January 31st, is our Annual Students’ Dinner. You can download the dinner invitation here or reserve online here.
On this occasion, we will have the honour of welcoming Me Lukasz Granosik from Norton Rose LLP, who will address us on the topic of “Work and Social Media: Conflicts, Tensions and Co-Existence”. I am happy to report that we have received certification for one hour of CLE credits.
Our Students’ Dinner always attracts a large number of law school students, stagiaires and young attorneys and I encourage you all to attend to show your support for the future of our Society. We will also be presenting deserving recipients from McGill, Université de Montréal and Université de Sherbrooke with the Lord Reading Law Society Prizes in recognition of their academic achievements.
Please note that the evening’s schedule will begin with cocktails, followed by Me Granosik’s speech, and then dinner immediately thereafter.
Special thanks to our generous sponsor for the evening, Norton Rose LLP.
I look forward to seeing all of you on January 31st.
Sincerely,
Mara Greenstone
President
Rob Nicholson, Canada’s Minister of Justice: “Standing up for Victims of Crime”
Larry Markowitz
The Lord Reading Law Society had the good fortune of hosting the federal Minister of Justice, the Honourable Rob Nicholson, on Thursday, November 22, 2012.
In introducing our guest, Society member Richard Yufe pointed out that Minister Nicholson now has the distinction of being Canada’s longest-serving Minister of Justice since the time of former Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. Prime Minister Stephen Harper named Minister Nicholson to his post on January 4, 2007.
In his allocution, delivered in a friendly and dynamic tone, Minister Nicholson reminded us how fortunate we are to live in Canada. It’s a country where a hard-working individual, regardless of their socio-economic background, has a realistic chance of being elected to Parliament without the need to raise (or to have) millions of dollars – like candidates for the US Congress; or the de facto need to hail from the aristocracy, like many UK political seatholders, who essentially inherit their “right” to stand for election for a given seat from their fathers and grandfathers.
Minister Nicholson ran through a sometimes humourous list of antiquated laws that the Tories have modernized, including an old arson law that prohibited the burning of vegetables and a law that specifically made it illegal to steal a cow (not to worry; stealing cattle remains a crime, but it is no longer the subject of its own special legislative clause!).
Our guest speaker then enumerated certain provisions that the Tories have added to the Criminal Code, such as several dealing with child pornography and human trafficking, along with crimes that utilize Internet technologies (e.g. luring minors online). The Minister also boasted of funding Canada’s innovative Child Advocacy Centres, which offer a child-friendly setting for young victims of crime or child witnesses.
Minister Nicholson concluded his talk by stating that Canada is an example to the world. This is a country where there is opportunity for all. “It doesn’t get any better than this!” he proclaimed in his concluding remarks.
Unfortunately, our audience did not have the opportunity to ask Minister Nicholson about these issues, as he had to rush out before the main course was served to catch an evening flight back to his Niagara Falls riding.
In appreciation of his visit, our guest speaker was presented with an official Lord Reading Law Society pen by Society First Vice-President and Program Chair Heather Michelin – “to sign important legislation”, as Maître Michelin put it. Minister Nicholson coyly replied he would use it to sign judicial appointments.
Irwin Cotler at McGill
Allen Mendelsohn
The Society is pleased to announce that its members have been invited to hear Irwin Cotler speak at the Faculty of Law of McGill University on February 6th. The occasion is the annual René Cassin lecture on human rights, and The Hon. Mr. Cotler will be speaking on the topic of “The Genocide Convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: What have we learned? What must we do?”. For more information and to RSVP, please visit McGill’s website.
UdeM JLSA, McGill JLSA and Hillel Annual Shabbat Dinner
Allen Mendelsohn
The Université de Montréal’s Jewish Law Students’ Association, in collaboration with Spiegel Sohmer, Hillel and JLSA McGill, is hosting its 2nd annual Shabbat Dinner on January 25th, 2013. The goals of this event are two-fold. First, the Shabbat dinner provides both Jews and non-Jews the opportunity to learn about Jewish life and traditions. Second, the dinner is an important networking event for both students and legal practitioners.
The dinner, preceded by a cocktail, will be held at the Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem Synoagogue where the Honourable Michel M.J. Shore will be the guest speaker. Tickets are $20 and are now available online at http://www.hillel.ca//en/jlsa++aejd+shabbat+dinner/ or by emailing aejd@aedmontreal.com.
Looking for Materials on Lord Reading for a New York City Exhibition
Allen Mendelsohn
Recently, the Society was contacted by Dr. Kenneth Robbins, an expert on the history of Jews in India. Dr. Robbins is putting together an exhibition, tentatively entitled “Jews in India”, for the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. Lord Reading (Rufus Daniel Isaacs) will feature prominently in this exhibition, and Dr. Robbins contacted us in the hope that we might assist him by providing any documents, paintings, or any other objects relating to Lord Reading. If you are in possession of any items that might help Dr. Robbins and are willing to loan them for the duration of this important exhibition, please contact him via email at rajanawab@comcast.net.
Society Humour
News from the Mishpuchah
Mazel Tov
- To Society Executive member Jonathan Gordon on the birth of his son;
- To Society Board member Elliot Lifson, a Professor of Practice at the Desautels Faculty of Management of McGill University and Vice-Chairman of Peerless Clothing Inc., for being awarded a 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal on June 22, 2012 for his dedication to his peers, to his community, and to Canada.
Condolences
- To Past President Lynne Kassie on the passing of her father, Humphrey;
- To Society Board member Stephanie Lipstein on the passing of her grandmother Sylvia (Sandy);
- To Society member Robert Vineberg on the passing of his mother Miriam.
