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www.lawtimesnews.com LAW TIMES 6 COVERING ONTARIO'S LEGAL SCENE | JANUARY 28, 2019 COMMENT I f the hundreds of people who tuned into a Law Society of On- tario webcast on the upcoming bencher election is any indication, this could be a very exciting race. Earlier this month, more than 300 people tuned into the broadcast, which is still available on the Law Society of Ontario website. At this point, dozens of people have already indicated to Law Times their interest in running, including current benchers who are seeking re-election. Law Times has launched its own website to cover the ins and outs of the election, at https:// bencherelection.lawtimesnews. com/. There, you'll be able to find profiles of prospective bench- ers, as they describe themselves and their platforms in their own words. You'll also be able to find coverage of issues that are of in- terest to voters, including the future of alternative business structures in the province and governance at the Law Society of Ontario, among others. There will be more to come on other is- sues facing the profession. People who are interested in running have until Feb. 8 to submit their nomination forms to run for one of the seats that will be up for grabs. Election day is on April 30. "Lawyers and paralegals from all communities, practice en- vironments, work areas, firm sizes and geographic locations throughout Ontario are encour- aged to run in the bencher elec- tion," Susan Tonkin, a spokes- woman for the Law Society of Ontario, said in a statement. The final group elected will include some new faces. Law Times has confirmed that some benchers will not be running again, including Raj Anand, Christopher Bredt, Ross Earnshaw, Robert Evans, Carol Hartman, Michelle Haigh, Janet Leiper, Susan McGrath, Susan Richer and Avvy Yao-Yao Go. This group includes some of the most notable benchers, and the next group should also be dy- namic, from what we've seen so far in the early days of the race. We're pleased that we'll be able to share incisive backgrounding with you as you determine how you'll vote. LT ©2019 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. 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Derek Welford Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 | Tel: 416- 298-5141 | Fax: 416-649-7870 | lawtimesnews.com LT.editor@thomsonreuters.com | @lawtimes BY K ADY O'MALLEY A little over a week after he was of- ficially sworn in as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's justice minister, erstwhile McGill University law profes- sor turned freshman Liberal MP David Lametti underwent not one but two rites of passage for a freshly minted minister: his first pre-sitting cabinet retreat, which gave him an extended opportunity to chat with his new colleagues while hunkered down behind the closed doors of a hotel conference room in Sherbrooke, Que., and his first extended back and forth with the parliamentary press gallery, who, as is tradition, descended on the out-of-town ministerial meet-up in hope of picking up a few hints on what to expect from the government in the months leading up to the federal election this fall. It wasn't Lametti's first time facing the press, of course — not even in his new capacity as Canada's attorney general; he passed that milestone before he'd made it off the grounds of Rideau Hall, although, at that point, he wasn't expected to do much more than express the appropriate degree of humble delight at being given the job. Indeed, from his responses in Sher- brooke, we can at least tentatively con- clude that it's going reasonably well so far. Asked what he was looking forward to, Lametti professed himself to be "really excited," noting that "as a lawyer and jurist," it was "wonderful" to be appointed to the post. And while a relative new- comer to the political theatre, he was downright adroit in dodging queries related to his potential starring role in a saga that has been playing out in the headlines in Canada and around the world since December: the arrest — and possible extradition to the United States — of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou. After assuring reporters that he would only "intervene" in the event of a court decision on the extradition request and would "stay away from the process" in the interim, he demurred from offering any additional comment, noting that to do otherwise could "compromise [his] neu- trality in the case." As far as his personal ministerial pri- ority list, however, Lametti had little to share; he simply pointed to the "legislative agenda" already working its way through the parliamentary process, while noting that he and his colleagues were commit- ted to "finishing what we started." And that, in an admittedly round- about way, brings us to the legacy of his predecessor, Jody Wilson-Raybould, who served as Trudeau's justice minister from the day he and his gov- ernment formally took office until this month's shuff le when, in what has been widely, if not necessarily accurately, viewed by Official Ottawa as a clear de- motion, she was transferred to veterans affairs. Despite a concerted effort by the prime minister's office to counter the narrative that Trudeau had effectively sidelined one of his most high-profile cabinet picks, it's not easy to come up with a convincing al- ternative theory. Among the major accomplishments to which Wilson-Raybould can legitimately lay at least partial claim: the legalization of recreational cannabis, new protocols for physician-assisted dying, a major overhaul of the criminal justice process and adding gender identity and expres- sion to the Canadian Human Rights Act. Still, for reasons that may or may not ever be revealed outside the confines of his Centre Block office suite, the prime minister decided to add her into the mix when it came time to fill the hole in his roster left by Brison's departure — and, indeed, there has to be a reason why he chose to elevate Lametti from the back- bench to take her spot at Justice. We just aren't likely to find out what it is unless the Liberals are able to convince voters to give them a second go-round in government. For all intents and purposes, we're now well into the pre-election holding period, which is why Lametti is probably wise to manage expectations: He may well have any number of ideas on how to improve Canada's current justice system, but he's unlikely to get the opportunity to present them to the 42nd Parliament. In the interim, the best Lametti can hope to accomplish is, in a nutshell, what he told reporters in Sherbrooke: Keep the relatively few legislative leftovers from Wilson-Raybould's tenure moving through the queue, keep his cards close to his chest on the Huawei extradition and wait out the clock while crossing his fingers that he may just get the chance to dig into his new portfolio in the wake of a second Liberal majority win. LT Kady O'Malley is a member of the parliamen- tary press gallery in Ottawa and writes about politics, procedure and process for iPolitics. She also appears regularly on CBC television and radio. Prepare for an unofficial election year The Hill Kady O'Malley Editorial Obiter Gabrielle Giroday The election cometh

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