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Law Times • January 26, 2009 NEWS Harris a vehement backer of human rights BY ROBERT TODD Law Times Sydney Harris, the province's legal community lost a vehement backer of human rights and civil liberties. Harris, 91, was best known for W his work on the bench, most no- tably acquitting the gay magazine Body Politic and members of the Pink Triangle Press in 1978 for pos- session and distribution of obscene materials. In 1983, he dismissed charges against Paul Magder Furs for selling goods on Sunday. He convicted NHLer Dino Ciccarelli for an on-ice assault in 1988. Ontario Surveyor General Brian Maloney, who worked with Harris from 1995 to 2001 on the council of the Association of On- tario Land Surveyors, remembers him as a very thoughtful person. "I can tell you, when he gave us advice, we listened," says Ma- loney. "He was not one of these guys that would stand up and make a lot of noise; a fairly quiet individual. But when he did have something to say, it was worth listening to, I can tell you that." Toronto lawyer Daniel Kay- fetz remembers a fateful day in 1970 when he came upon Harris on the street shortly after gradu- ating law school. Harris offered to let him use office space. ith the recent death of former Ontario Pro- vincial Court justice "He said, 'Well lis- ten, I've got an empty office up here at my place,'" recalls Kayfetz. "He said, 'Why don't you come up here, and start practising law. Don't worry about what it costs, just come up and start and we'll work something out.'" They eventually agreed on $50 a month, but Kayfetz says the free mentorship Har- ris provided was the real steal. He recalls that during the time he spent working along- side him, Harris spent more than half his time doing charity work. "He had a very strong need to help community and deal in civil fetz. rights," says Kay- "He was a man who was pre- cise and careful; he didn't speak unless he knew what he was talk- ing about," says Kayfetz. "He was very well read, and he read all of the time, everything." Harris was born in Toronto in 1917, and attended the Uni- versity of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School. He went on to practise with Harold Rubenstein until 1976, when he was ap- pointed to the Ontario Provin- Effort will pay off down the road Continued from page 1 Shinfield also has created a checklist to aid lawyers in meeting the verification requirements for financial transactions. "I get a lot of questions," she says. "At this point, I'm getting five to seven questions a week. But this is just bumps. As the new forms become more familiar, I think a lot of the questions, hope- fully, will be negated." While the bulk of the now-mandatory information was pre- viously collected by firms, Shinfield says lawyers aren't used to chasing down business identification numbers and jurisdictions of incorporation. "When you figure out what's required, it's not a difficult step to get that information," she says. Brockville lawyer Mike Johnston is leading the way on the new rules for his four-lawyer office. He says the requirements have added a new level of administrative expense, with he and his staff putting in "a few extra hours" to comply. But not a single client has resisted his request for personal information, says Johnston, who is a member of the County and District Law Presidents' Association executive and helped prepare that organization's position on the rules. He's hoping to keep things simple by asking for the information from each cli- ent he deals with. While the requirements are causing some short-term inconve- nience, the added effort will likely pay off down the road, he says. "The proof will be three, four years from now when my recep- tionist is able to say, 'No, we've already got that,'" says Johnston. Shinfield says the law society is expected to amend some of the new requirements at Thursday's Convocation meeting. "There are potential amendments being proposed, that I be- lieve are going before Convocation from the perspective of On- tario on the 29th of January," she says. "Once those changes are implemented, I think as real issues come up in implementing those rules, perhaps further changes will be contemplated." Shinfield says the amendments are largely aimed at clarifying the rules. But she notes that they are meant to be similar coun- trywide, and that any amendments must be in line with that call for uniformity. She ends with a quick note to counsel hoping to pass the buck in terms of getting in line with the requirements. "You can't shelter behind your firm," she says. "It's your own responsibility, and you have to be informed and advised of these rules, and understand the requirements and implications." LT Untitled-1 1www.lawtimesnews.com 11/25/08 8:46:47 AM cial Court (Criminal Division). Although he retired from the provincial court bench in 1992, Harris went on to act as a Small Claims Court judge, a referee of the Law Society of Upper Canada, part-time member of the Ontario Assessment Review Board, and a lay appointee of the council for the AOLS. "I can't recall any time that he gave us an opinion or advice that we didn't value," says Malo- ney. "You knew he had thought things through. He was a solid thinker, there's no question about that. And I think his motives were always pure. You could tell he wouldn't just bring a perspec- tive forward as a lawyer. . . . It was always a very honest, fair type of opinion." was Kayfetz says Harris passionate about work. "He wanted to keep giving his time," he says. "I'm sure it wasn't for financial reasons, he just wanted to give his talents and he was a good decision-maker. He wanted to provide his talents as long as he could." Harris also made sig- nificant contributions to the Jewish community throughout his life. He served as the national president of the Cana- dian Jewish Milton Cadsby, former Ontario Provincial Court justice Sydney Harris, and Father Roland de Corneille are seen meeting with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. Congress from 1974 to 1977, and also acted as president of the Canadian Council of Reform Congrega- tions. He advocated, among other things, for re- ligious education, the expan- sion of civil liberties and hu- man rights, and the abolition of capital punishment. During the 1950s and 1960s, Harris active- ly supported the U.S. civil rights campaign, meeting Martin Lu- ther King Jr. in 1963. Harris died Jan. 17 at his home, surrounded by his family. 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