NEWSLETTER: January 2026

Editors – Allen Mendelsohn, Larry Markowitz and Stephanie Perlis

President’s Message

Alyssa Yufe, President

(cliquez ici pour lire le mot de la présidente en français)

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

On behalf of the Lord Reading Law Society, I am excited to welcome you to the new year of the Lord Reading Law Society!

I hope that you enjoyed a restful holiday season, and we extend our warmest wishes to you and your families for a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2026. We have some great events coming up to start 2026 and I am looking forward to seeing you.

Our Annual Student Dinner with Valérie Assouline

Next Wednesday, January 21st, on the occasion of our Annual Student Dinner, one of the Society’s most meaningful traditions, we are delighted to welcome Maître Valérie Assouline, youth protection advocate, current Bâtonnière and 160th elected head of the Bar of Montreal, for her talk entitled A Family Affair: The Trials and Tribulations of a Youth Protection Lawyer. More information about our wonderful guest speaker is below.

The Annual Student Dinner is a cornerstone event at which we are delighted to welcome and honour law students and stagiaires. During the evening, the Lord Reading Student Awards will be presented to deserving students from Québec’s law faculties, as well as the Civil Law Section of the University of Ottawa.

For many students, this evening represents their first opportunity to network with respected members of the legal profession. For many lawyers and judges, it is a refreshing and purposeful opportunity to offer guidance, mentorship, and encouragement to the next generation. We encourage all members and friends of the Society to attend and warmly welcome the students and stagiaires who represent the future of our profession and our Society.

Cocktails begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:00 p.m., at the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue. You can register online at https://lordreading.org/events/annual-student-dinner-2026.

I would like to thank our very generous Student Dinner sponsors for their support:

1. Goldwater Droit for being our headline sponsor for the evening; and
2. Devine Schachter Polak and Robinson Sheppard Shapiro for supporting the evening and making the highly-discounted student tickets possible.

About Maître Valérie Assouline

Maître Assouline is a passionate advocate, community leader, and dedicated public servant whose work bridges justice, compassion, and service to others. Throughout her legal career, she has worked tirelessly to defend the rights of children and parents, ensuring that vulnerable voices are heard and protected within the youth protection system.

She is deeply engaged in community life, serving as a municipal councilor in Dollard-des-Ormeaux and as a leader in numerous pro bono and charitable initiatives.

We are deeply honoured and truly grateful that Valérie will be delivering the address at our Annual Student Dinner. Her record speaks not only to professional excellence, but to a rare depth of insight shaped by years of principled advocacy, lived experience, and unwavering service to others.

Maître Assouline leads by example and is an inspiration to all, especially to myself.

REMINDER: Young Bar Cocktail Hockey Watch Party is tonight!

There is still time to register for the Young Bar hockey night! All Lord Reading Junior members, stagiaires and students are welcome tonight, Thursday, January 15th. Snacks and beverages are provided, compliments of the Society. Please sign up for this free evening here. Go Habs Go!

*****

We have more wonderful upcoming events, and stay tuned for even more more exciting announcements regarding other future events!

February 11, 2026 – Inside the Federal Courts: Perspectives from Trial, Appeal and Practice

For our next dinner meeting, we are thrilled to welcome the Honourable Peter Pamel of the Federal Court of Appeal and the Honourable Alan Diner of the Federal Court, and Maître Daniel Grodinsky. Together, they will explore the work of the Federal Courts and enlighten us all. Registration for this event will open on January 22, 2026.

May-June 2026: The Lord Reading Law Society Multicultural Gala

The Lord Reading Law Society will be holding a spring Multicultural Gala, an evening dedicated to celebrating diversity within the legal profession to foster dialogue, solidarity, justice, community and cross-cultural understanding.

We anticipate setting the date in the next few weeks and we look forward to providing further details to you on this unique and exciting event.

*****

I want to sincerely thank my Executive and Past Presidents and all of our Board members and volunteers who continue to uphold and support the Society. Your time, input and thoughtful contributions are indispensable and greatly appreciated.

I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday!

Sincerely,

Alyssa Yufe, President 2025-26
The Lord Reading Law Society
president@lordreading.org

Human Rights Updates from the President

Alyssa Yufe

Please note that no member of the Society who is a sitting or supernumerary member of a court or administrative tribunal has participated in any manner in the preparation or adoption of the statements discussed here.

1. December Statement on the Bondi Massacre

I would like to draw to your attention our statement from December 2025, extending our deepest condolences to the victims, their families and all of those affected by the horrific massacre at Bondi Beach, Australia during Hanukkah on December 14, 2025 and calling on all levels of government to take robust action to protect its Jewish community and eradicate the pervasive spread of antisemitism in Canada and abroad.

2. A Message in Solidarity with the People of Iran

At this moment of global uncertainty, the Lord Reading Law Society also wishes to express that our hearts and minds are with the people of Iran. We pray for, and unequivocally demand, their immediate security, safety, and freedom.

As an organization committed to human rights, the rule of law, and the inherent dignity of all people, we call upon the Government of Canada, our federal leaders, and all heads of state to take the necessary and meaningful steps to ensure the protection, liberty, and fundamental rights of the Iranian people. Silence in the face of injustice is not an option.

Human Rights Advocate Mark Sandler’s Reflections on Antisemitism Today

Larry Markowitz

Reflecting the Society’s longstanding commitment to the rule of law, our Annual Human Rights Lecture, held on November 26, 2025, featured distinguished Canadian criminal defence lawyer and human rights advocate Mark Sandler, who delivered a lecture entitled Antisemitism Today: The Law, the Community, and the Way Forward: A Canadian Perspective.

Over several decades, Mr. Sandler has been at the forefront of efforts to address hate-motivated crime in Canada. His work has included appearances before courts and parliamentary committees, training for police and prosecutors, and the development of legal tools to respond to hate. He is also the founder and chair of the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism (ALCCA), a coalition of more than 65 community organizations committed to coordinated advocacy, education, and respectful dialogue.

The evening opened with reflections on the Society’s own history. Founded at a time when Jewish lawyers in Quebec faced exclusion from professional life, the Society emerged as a vehicle for dignity, solidarity, and access. While overt barriers eventually fell, Mr. Sandler cautioned against complacency. Antisemitism, he argued, has not disappeared. Instead, it has evolved.

A central theme of the lecture was the evolution of antisemitism from overt hostility to more complex forms that often operate through the language of social justice and rights-based discourse. Mr. Sandler noted that while legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies is not antisemitic, antisemitism arises when Jews are held collectively responsible for Israel’s actions, when Israel is uniquely demonized or delegitimized, or when classic antisemitic tropes are repackaged in contemporary terms.

Zionism, Mr. Sandler explained, is simply the belief in a Jewish democratic state in the Jewish people’s historic homeland. Yet anti-Zionism has increasingly become a socially acceptable proxy for antisemitism.

He identified several factors contributing to this shift, including the false redefinition of Zionism as Jewish supremacy; the portrayal of Zionism as colonialism, which resonates within certain ideological frameworks; the amplification of misinformation through social media; and the influence of extremist ideologies that appropriate the language of human rights while promoting exclusion and hatred.

The consequences of these trends are not abstract. Mr. Sandler pointed to data showing that Jews are the targets of over 70% of hate motivated crimes based on religion in Canada, despite constituting a small percentage of the population. These figures, he emphasized, are widely understood to be underreported.

He also described a troubling convergence of online radicalization, lone actor threats, and ideological extremism. Law enforcement, he noted, increasingly views these dynamics as posing serious risks to Jewish communities.

Turning to the law, Mr. Sandler emphasized that Canada’s Criminal Code already contains tools capable of addressing many forms of hate activity, including mischief, intimidation, and offences involving the obstruction of public infrastructure. Too often, however, these provisions are underused due to unfamiliarity.

Drawing on his experience training police and prosecutors, he stressed the importance of consistent enforcement and the use of community impact statements to convey the broader harm caused by hate crimes, including acts such as the desecration of Holocaust memorials.

The lecture also addressed challenges within educational and institutional settings. Mr. Sandler expressed concern about emerging definitions of discrimination that label support for Israel as inherently racist, thereby marginalizing Jewish identity and silencing debate. He contrasted these approaches with the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, which seeks to capture how antisemitism manifests in contemporary contexts, including through attacks on Jewish collective identity.

Looking ahead, Mr. Sandler’s message was one of strategy and responsibility. Antisemitism, he emphasized, is not a challenge faced by one community alone, but a broader societal issue that cannot be addressed in isolation.

He urged lawyers, institutions, and civic leaders to use the tools available to them and to reject selective outrage. Racism, antisemitism, and extremism, he argued, must be confronted together.

Mr. Sandler’s remarks underscored the importance of continued engagement, clarity in the law, and a willingness to work across communities. His reflections offered a reminder that confronting antisemitism, like confronting all forms of hate, requires dialogue, shared responsibility, and sustained commitment.

For a full set of pictures from the event, please click here. 

About the ALCAA

Allen Mendelsohn

On behalf of the Society, we would like to extend our most sincere thanks to Mark Sadler for speaking to us. The Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism (ALCCA) is a diverse coalition of 65+ community organizations and groups that collaboratively address antisemitism through advocacy, education and respectful dialogue. We invite you to subscribe to the ALCCA mailing list for ALCCA news and action alerts.

Society Humour

News from the Mishpocha

Condolences

• To the family of past Society Board member Solomon Katz