Law Times

Follow on www.twitter.com/lawtimes $3.55 • Vol. 21, No. 21 Untitled-3 1 5/5/10 3:55:30 PM Inside This Issue 4 Charter Rights Covering Ontario's Legal Scene June 21, 2010 vorceMate_EAR_LT_June21_10.indd 1 6/18/10 10:23:20 AM Lawyers gearing up for G20 Activists get legal training as big firms gird for protests BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times 7 T Dodging a Bullet 9 Focus On Family Law Quote of the week "When I've been involved on the capacity side of things in dealing with confl icts between children of a fi rst marriage and a second spouse, these have been among the most bitter and contested disputes. — Jan Goddard, Jan Goddard and Associates See What, Page 14 oronto police could fi nd an odd sight when they search protesters detained at this week's G20 sum- mit: a phone number tattooed across their bodies. Waiting on the other end of the "arrest line" will be Kate Oja or one of her col- leagues in the Law Union of Ontario's movement defence committee. "We've got a roster of counsel who have signed up to do free bail hearings, so we'll put people in touch with those lawyers and set them up with their sureties to have their bail hearings and hopefully get them released," says Oja, who has just completed her articles and was called to the bar last week. Once the demonstrations begin, the de- fence committee will enter the second phase of a project that began months ago with a series of legal information sessions for people who plan on protesting and observing the summit. Over the weekend, it wrapped up the fi rst phase with two "know your rights" seminars for protesters. On its web site, the committee advises activists to write the phone number for its arrest line or that of another lawyer in permanent marker on their bodies. "Police may take paper from you or you could forget the number due to stress or in- jury," it reads. Irina Ceric, another lawyer and founding member of the committee, says the sessions have attracted a mix of activists ranging from Kate Oja hopes the presence of legal observers this week will act as a check on police conduct. the novice to the seasoned. She's expecting a large proportion of the protesters this week to come from out of town. "We know there will be a lot of people in- terested in expressing their views about the G8 and the G20, and it's important for them to know what their rights are knowing that dissent is often criminalized," she says. Oja believes police have tried to intimi- date people into staying away from the G20 but hopes the information sessions will en- courage people to make their voices heard. "Th e way we are trying to counter that is to let people know how they can protect themselves from the police and from that intimidation," she says. Participants learn the basics, such as the rights to counsel and to remain silent after arrest. Oja tells them they don't have to con- sent to a search unless police arrest them. But in the heat of the moment, events rarely go according to plan, and the nuances of constitutional theory are among the fi rst casualties in a tense encounter with police. Oja says participants run through scenarios in the sessions but notes there's no predict- ing the reality of a situation. "Nothing ever goes as planned," she says. "But it's important to remember to stay calm and try to remember you've got the right to counsel and not say anything if you don't want to." Th e committee has also trained almost 100 legal observers who will wear identifi able hats and monitor police actions in order to report arrests and rights violations to the group's le- gal offi ce for possible use by counsel. "Even if the information is not used, the presence of legal observers helps demonstra- tors feel safe on the streets because they feel like someone is out there keeping an eye on the police," Oja says. "It does have an eff ect See Staff, page 5 eral government's announcement this month that it would contrib- ute $600 million to transform Ot- tawa's transit system from buses to light rail may provide the catalyst for municipalities to hop on the controversial P3 bandwagon. "For a number of reasons, the P3 model has not yet been widely embraced by the municipal sector, and it may be that projects of this nature will help turn the tide," says Heather Douglas of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Federal Transport Minister John Baird said he expected Ottawa to Bay St. sees hope for P3s in LRT work L BY JULIUS MELNITZER For Law Times awyers working in the public-private partnership arena are hopeful the fed- use the money to advance a "practi- cal and aff ordable" plan for the city. Although city council hasn't yet ap- proved the project, Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien has stated that the current light-rail plan, estimated to cost $1.5 billion, will proceed. "Th e project is going forward on the assumption that it will be a P3 project," says Morty Gross, also at BLG. "And if it does, it will show municipalities that they can do very large P3 projects successfully." As it turns out, the LRT won't be Ottawa's fi rst P3 project. "Th e city has been a leader in the P3 industry," Douglas says. "Th ey're currently involved in sev- eral projects, including Lansdowne Live, a $100-million redevelop- ment of Lansdowne stadium with retail, residential, and offi ce com- ponents as well as an urban park." P3 opportunities in the mu- nicipal sector also loom in the To- ronto and Hamilton areas, where Metrolinx has developed a $50-bil- lion, fi ve-year integrated transpor- tation plan that includes 15 priority rapid-transit projects. Th e province has already committed about $10 billion to the fi rst fi ve projects. Dan Ferguson of Toronto's WeirFoulds LLP expects many mu- nicipalities across the country will be considering light-rail projects. "LRT is a very cost-eff ective transportation alternative, especial- ly when compared to the expense of constructing a subway," he says. Still, the overwhelming evidence to date that municipalities are fac- ing a major infrastructure defi cit for things like roads, sewers, and water Recruiting? Contact Sandy Shutt at sshutt@clbmedia.ca for details. www.lawtimesnews.com facilities hasn't motivated them to engage in P3 projects, which often arouse signifi cant opposition, to a great extent. According to the Canadian Council for Public-Private Part- nerships, 31 per cent of Canada's civil infrastructure is more than 40 years old, and 28 per cent dates back more than 80 years. Th e older infrastructure gets, the costlier it is to repair and the more expensive managing it becomes. Th e council also says the back- log in municipal-infrastructure work sits at $123 billion and cites a need for $115 billion in new facilities. At the same time, a recent study of 35 Ontario municipali- ties found they spent only $255 See Infrastructure, page 5 Click here to subscribe today to LAW TIMES Post your position on Photo: Paul Lawrence

• Cover
• Charter Rights
• Dodging A Bullet
• Focus On Family Law