Law Times

Oct 29, 2012

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SPAM RULES Businesses worried about CRTC guidance P4 PARDON ME? $4.00 • Vol. 23, No. 34 COVERING ONTARIO'S LEGAL SCENE • WWW.LAWTIMESNEWS.COM October 29, 2012 L BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times Bencher admits there's 'no perfect solution' as debate rages " Articling D-Day set for November L AW TIMES Navigating new world of record suspensions P7 Overwhelmed by the response to the articling task force's 100-page report, benchers agreed to defer the de- aw Society of Upper Canada benchers set the stage for a D-Day on articling this November aſt er proponents and opponents of its com- plete abolition laid out their cases at last week' Convocation. s bate and decision on it to their next meeting on Nov. 22. "Ten days does not permit stakeholders enough time to fully appreciate, vided task force had the chance, however, to present their proposals. Raj Anand spoke on behalf of the task force' ers at Convocation on Oct. 25. Benchers from the two distinct camps on the di- " Virginia MacLean told fellow bench- ity that proposed a fi ve-year pilot for an eight-month legal practice program that would absorb the overfl ow of licensing candidates unable to secure articles. He anticipates that about one-fi ſt h, or 400 out of 2,000 li- censee applicants, would take the course in its fi rst year. "We recognize that there is no perfect solution," said s major- Anand, who emphasized that all members of the task force agreed that the status quo was unacceptable. "Th is has led to our recommendation to provide optional pathways to licensing and thereby eliminate the unfair situation in which many candidates cannot demon- strate their ability to meet competency standards." Th e majority option, he said, allows the profession to retain and enhance the "widely accepted experiential process" of articling while at the same time "testing it ntitled-4 1 dissenting members of the task force, said benchers should bite the bullet and scrap articling altogether. "It' But Bencher Jacqueline Horvat, speaking for the four " according to Anand. 12-03-20 10:44 AM FOCUS ON Real Estate Law P10 openly and transparently in a manner that has not been done before. same assessments at the end of the process, allowing for "evidence-based conclusions at the end of the pilot proj- ect whether one or both of the two streams of qualifi ca- tion should continue, Candidates from both streams would receive the tion every one of us will ask of a new lawyer who comes to us looking for a job is where did you article, "In our view, no one should be consigned to a second- class status by a licensing process." Th e majority proposal calls for an equalization payment s human nature to react this way. . . . Th e fi rst ques- " she said. of $1,320 by all licensing candidates to cover the cost of those going through the legal practice program, but Hor- vat said there would still be inequity since many articling students are paid for their work and may even have their licensing fees covered by their employers. Th e minority group' practical program for all applicants plus post-call mentor- ing and assessment to ensure competence. Bencher Wendy Matheson, another member of the task force majority, dismissed fears about a two-tier system. "Th e proposal is to study two pathways to licensing Law society staff were busy moderating last week's public debate that ran simultaneously with Convocation's discussions on articling. Photo: Robin Kuniski But Bencher Peter Wardle, who supported the mi- nority proposal on the task force, said the length of the and to evaluate and compare them. . . . As soon as you study more than one pathway, whatever you do will be described as two-tier, " she said. See Delay, page 5 Worker paid $1.25/hour gets 2nd chance to prove case I BY MARG. BRUINEMAN For Law Times with a disability who earned $1.25 per hour since the late 1990s did in fact fi le her complaint on time. "Th is case is a victory for access n a rare reversal, a panel of the Ontario Human Rights Tri- bunal has decided that a St. Catharines, Ont., employee the tribunal within a year of your fi rst paycheque. to justice for those who may face wage discrimination," says Barba- ra Hall, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commis- sion that acted as an intervener in the reconsideration proceedings at the tribunal. "If you feel you're the victim of wage discrimination, you don't necessarily have to complain to member panel found that the alleged discrimination against Terri-Lynn Garrie wasn't a single act dating back to when she fi rst began earning $1 per hour but had repeated with every pay period. As a result, the three-person panel determined that her complaint fell within the one-year limitation period. It was the fi rst time the tribunal In revisiting the case, a three- " had to determine whether an on- going wage diff erential constitutes a continuing contravention of the Ontario Human Rights Code. "It will aff ect other situations," says Mindy Noble, co-counsel for Garrie along with Kate Stephen- son of the Human Rights Legal Support Centre. "It' cessful reconsideration and this is a pretty substantial one. ployees with disabilities who al- legedly worked 40 hours per week for Janus Joan Inc. at $1 per hour starting in the late 1990s. Her pay later increased to $1.25 hourly while others without disabilities were allegedly earning minimum wage or more for essentially the same job. It wasn't until a month aſt er the Garrie was among several em- s pretty rare to have a suc- " s alternative calls for a two- to three-month intensive company fi red her — and eventu- ally all of the employees with dis- abilities — in October 2009 that she made her complaint to the See Award, page 5 A DAILY BLOGOF CANADIAN LEGAL NEWS [WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/LEGALFEEDS ] LegalFeeds-BB-LT-Apr23-12.indd 1 'This case is a victory for access to justice for those who may face wage discrimination,' says Barbara Hall. CANADIAN LAWYER & LAW TIMES POWERED BY 12-04-16 11:56 AM PM #40762529

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