Law Times

Page 6 May 12, 2014 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com COMMENT Bricks and bouquets ith many of our public fi gures making especially ques- tionable decisions in the past couple of weeks, it seems like a good time to revive a newspaper tradition of tossing a few bricks at those who are off the mark and bouquets to those who deserve some praise. So here goes: A brick to Prime Minister Stephen Harper for attemptin g to ma- lign Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. She did noth- ing inappropriate in looking to fl ag a potential issue with appointing Justice Marc Nadon to the top court well before his nomination. A bouquet to Premier Kathleen Wynne for acknowledging the need to increase legal aid eligibility in the now-defunct provincial budget. With the criteria still at 1995 levels, the proposed change is long overdue. We'll see who wins the election, but hopefully the legal aid provisions will resurface. A brick to Wynne as well for a budget that maintains a very high defi - cit. Many of the things you're proposing are necessary, but we need to see a clear plan for dramatically reducing the defi cit rather than increasing it. A bouquet to the Law Society of Upper Canada for running a re- spectful, informative, and transparent debate on accrediting Trinity Western University's law school. A brick to NDP Leader Andrea Horwath for provoking an election despite a budget that delivered much of what her party and support- ers traditionally seek. e legal aid changes are at risk due to the elec- tion. While there's a small possibility you'll win, it's sad you and your fellow party leaders can't fi nd ways to co-operate in the public interest. You clearly put your party's narrow interest in winning more seats fi rst. Ontarians left with inconvenient choice in provincial election rom now to the June 12 Ontario general election, there will be a lot of polls and most of them will be wrong, skewed or obsolete. A case in point is former Alberta premier Alison Redford's 2012 come-from-behind vic- tory over the challenging Wildrose party and British Columbia Premier Christy Clark's win last year over the NDP. So take this with an unhealthy grain or two of salt: going into this, the Pro- gressive Conservatives led by Tim Hu- dak were nudging ahead in the polls with 38 per cent support, according to Forum Research Inc., with Premier Kathleen Wynne at 33 per cent and the NDP at 22 per cent. Forum also noted that for Hu- dak to win a majority, he'd have to crack 40 per cent or more to translate into the required number of seats. So we're now into spin overdrive. In Wynne's world, the Liberals are the only party to ensure the protection of the most vulnerable in our society from the slash- and-burn policies that will "undoubt- edly" follow a Hudak win. "A safe hand" at the wheel is Wynne's mantra, something that ignores the fact she has already run off the road fi scally speaking. She'll just shrug off the scan- dals while the pesky issues of higher energy costs and the balloon- ing debt are the price we pay for a clean, safe, and empa- thetic Ontario. e big ace Wynne thinks she holds is the proposed On- tario pension plan, a scheme for those who don't have a workplace pension plan or work for themselves. e gov- ernment based it on the Can- ada Pension Plan model with administration by an arm's- length board that would di- rect the investment of about $3.8 billion in contributions annually. Politically, they're playing the fear card to the 66 per cent of Ontario work- ers who don't have a workplace pension plan. e Ontario plan would see em- ployers and employees pay 1.9 per cent each on earnings up to a maximum an- nual threshold of $90,000. e government would introduce legislation this fall with the plan begin- ning in 2017 to coincide with planned reductions in federal employment insur- ance premiums. Wynne has also opted to bypass Hu- dak and call out Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the pension issue. It's an old trick to position herself as the defender of Ontario issues and defl ect from her own vulnerabilities. e Liberal brain trust says the Ontario pension plan has polled well, but the issue brings to mind former prime minister Kim Camp- bell's suggestion that an elec- tion wasn't long enough to discuss the complexities of overhauling social policy. Indeed, the benefi ts of a new 3.8-per-cent levy (the Liberals, of course, deny it's a tax) may prove too complex to connect with the electorate and distract from the ruling party's abys- mal fi scal policies. Meanwhile, Hudak is selling hope for a better tomorrow by focusing on jobs and the economy. But he's also fi ghting a whisper campaign from big labour groups that won't let the right-to-work issue die. Hudak long ago jettisoned the idea as an election plank, but every good story needs a bad guy and big labour is spend- ing millions to tell voters he plans to bust unions and slash the minimum wage. Wynne is also denying suggestions of a hidden agenda following accusations by NDP Leader Andrea Horwath that she's planning to privatize public transit. is leaves Horwath, who's trying to dis- tance herself from Wynne, with the ef- fective tagline: "I'm not Tim Hudak and we're not the Liberals. Give us a chance." Still, the polls do tell us Ontarians don't love any of the choices but they do want change. In the absence of strong leadership, the choices are inconvenient: Do we want more of the same or can we stifl e our unease and take a chance on an NDP government that promises not much of a change in direction fi scally or a Con- servative government led by the unloved Hudak that will undoubtedly make con- troversial changes? One suspects the backroom strate- gists at all three parties are working long hours to find a way to get voters' atten- tion and are desperately watching the polls for a glimmer of a trend to formu- late a strategy around. LT uIan Harvey has been a journalist for 35 years writing about a diverse range of issues including legal and political affairs. His e-mail address is ianharvey@rogers. com. ©2014 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. 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We'll see if it stands in court, but benchers appear to have bravely voted with their consciences on both sides of the issue. A brick to Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur for not speaking to Law Times. You wouldn't do it when you took the job and now apparently can't be- cause of the election. We understand to some extent and it's your choice, but you really should be more open to the public. Election campaigns, contrary to a famous slip in 1993, are a time to debate serious issues. A bouquet to the lawyers at Axess Law PC for shaking up the legal profession with your low-cost legal services. We know some people question your approach, but it's good to see a new way of doing busi- ness that will off er cheaper access to legal services. Glenn Kauth W F Queen's Park Ian Harvey

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