Law Times

PAGE 4 NEWS JUNE 16, 2008 / LAW TIMES Rock returns to public policy limelight BY RON STANG Law Times WINDSOR — University of Ottawa officials are enjoying their coup after appointing for- mer federal cabinet minister, UN ambassador, and, most recently, Windsor lawyer Allan Rock as their new university president. Asked if Rock had been a star candidate, U of O board of gover- nors chairman Marc Jolicoeur says, "Oh yes, very much so," and notes there's "no doubt in my mind" he is the right person to take the uni- versity to the next level. Rock's hiring almost seems a perfect match in that he embod- ies so much of what the university represents. He is an Ottawa native and bilingual. U of O is the largest bilingual university in the country and has a mission to promote the country's two official languages. Moreover, Rock grew up on Blackburn Avenue in Sandy Hill, literally around the corner from the University of Ottawa campus. He's an alumnus of University of Ottawa high school, and a gradu- ate of the university itself in arts and law. And, as a federal Liberal MP (representing the Toronto rid- ing of Etobicoke) — and, for 10 years, as cabinet minister — he was a nationally known Ottawa- based political figure The university announced Rock will head the more than 35,000-student downtown cam- pus for a five-year term beginning July 15. But it means that Rock will have to give up his civil litiga- tion practice in Windsor. Rock was lured to Windsor only two years ago by Sutts Strosberg LLP's Harvey Strosberg, after fin- ishing his post as Canadian ambas- sador to the United Nations. That was major news: a public figure of Rock's stature relocating away from big-city glitz to the folksy confines of southwestern Ontario. But it was a tie that binds that brought him to Canada's premiere civil litigation practice. Rock and Strosberg go back to when they both articled at Fasken & Calvin (now Fasken Martineau DuMou- lin LLP) in Toronto. They then served as benchers at the Law So- ciety of Upper Canada. And finally both were treasurers — Rock from 1992-93, and Strosberg 1997-99. "Alan and I go back 30 years," Strosberg says. "For most of that time we talked about practis- ing law together." Before Rock even entered politics in 1993 Strosberg was trying to get him to move to Windsor. Says Rock: "He said, 'We've got something going here in Windsor. You've Allan Rock gives up civil litigation to become the new president of the University of Ottawa. got to come down and join me. It's a fabulous place to live.'" Once his ambassadorship end- ed, and with a renewed overture from Strosberg, he moved. "And then we had this wonderful two- year relationship," Strosberg says. But he's philosophical: "How are you going to keep them down on the farm after they've seen Paris?" At Sutts, Rock, who had pre- viously excelled in civil litigation and chaired Faskens' 100-mem- ber litigation department before entering politics, took on class ac- tions in securities fraud, price-fix- ing, product liability, and allega- tions of conspiracy in corporate- commercial relationships. Says Strosberg about Rock as practitioner, "Allan Rock has enormous energy and talent. He's one of the best advocates that I've ever seen. He's terrific in a courtroom. He has an abil- ity to synthesize complicated facts of law and express them in a very clear and concise fashion." But while Rock cherished June Specials The Criminal Lawyers' Guide to Appellate Court Practice Gil D. McKinnon, Q.C. The Guide to Investigations and Prosecutions André Marin working at Sutts' innovative and in many ways groundbreaking class litigation firm (he called Strosberg "the country's leading practitioner" who has "put energy and money and people power" into developing a "fabulous class action practice") Rock realized ul- timately he was cut out for public policy. His years in cabinet and at the UN confirmed that. "What litigation lawyers discov- er and what I was reminded is that for every hour you're in the court- room there are 35 hours in prepa- ration," Rock said. By contrast his years in cabinet, "dealing with is- sues on a national scale" and then at the UN handling transnational issues like food aid and the trag- edies of child soldiers and genocide in Africa and Asia, created a dyna- mism he found hard to relinquish. Returning to law was to work on a "micro-scale, and I missed the pub- lic policy aspect of my life." What's the link now between public policy and being a univer- sity president? Rock says when he was in cabinet — and particularly in the portfolios of Health and In- dustry (he also served a minister of Justice) — he "discovered" that universities "are at the epicentre of innovation in Canada." He says that when his Liberal government was developing an industrial innovation strategy, "universities were seen to be the place to start and the place to con- tinue and the place to succeed," whether because of their abilities to conduct world-class research "and turn it into ideas for the mar- ketplace, new devices, new pro- pulsion systems for cars, environ- mentally friendly technologies, Witness Preparation Manual, Second Edition Bryan Finlay, Q.C., and The Honourable Mr. Justice Thomas A. Cromwell Crimes Against Children: Prosecution and Defence Anna Maleszyk Contributors: Colleen Hepburn, Dr. Marcellina Mian and Louise Dezwirek Sas life saving medical technologies." The same, he says, applies to social policy, where universities "are the incubators of social inno- vation whether it's a new way of dealing with poverty in the coun- try, new strategies for dealing with issues in the aboriginal commu- nity, foreign policy discussions, Canada's place in the world." Rocks cherishes that higher-ed- ucation atmosphere. "When you're walking on to that campus you're walking into a world of people whose whole lives are developing fresh ideas and new approaches to issues of our time," he says. Univer- sity campuses, he adds, are perco- lating with "provocative and stim- ulating" research, discussion, and debate — not all that dissimilar to the Parliament or the UN. "So it's a fabulous opportunity to get back into that." Rock didn't seek out the U of O job. An overture was first made to him last fall. He turned it down. He told a university official: "That doesn't relate to what I'm do- ing with my life right now." But a second U of O call came after Christmas. Says Rock, "I thought about it and thought about it." He decided returning to the high- profile public policy limelight was ultimately right for him. It is easy to see why U of O pur- sued Rock. The university is the larger of Ottawa's two universities. But many people think Carleton, the crosstown campus, is bigger. "I think a number of people think that, and I don't think that the University of Ottawa has been very good over the years in re- ally sort of selling itself out there," Jolicoeur says. Yet his downtown campus has more than 35,000 students to Carleton's low- to mid-20,000 range. It also has such significant professional schools as law and medicine. And it's recog- nized as the fifth most important university in Canada for research. U of O's bilingual status — it calls itself "Canada's university" — also means its law program com- prises common law in English and French, Quebec civil law in French, and a national program that com- bines common and civil law. It has the highest number of applicants of any Canadian law school. Jolicoeur, who is Borden Ladner Gervais LLP's national corporate- commercial group leader, believes Rock will be able to "really narrow that gap" between the university's perception and stature. He says Rock transformed the Medical Research Council into the multidimensional Canadian In- stitutes of Health Research. In his Industry portfolio, he was respon- sible for Canada's three granting agencies — the National Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Social Sciences and Hu- manities Research Council. He also chaired the Advisory Council on Science and Technology. Jolicoeur calls Rock a "great communicator" whose contacts will allow the university to estab- lish "interesting and beneficial alli- ances and partnerships," especially in research and "the ability to at- tract strong student candidates" from inside and outside Canada. And, he says, Rock is "cer- tainly accepted by the franco- phones within this province as being a strong bilingual candi- date" who can further the U of O's bilingual "mission." LT WHICH DIRECTION IS BEST FOR YOU? RainMaker Group 110 Yonge Street, Suite 1101 Toronto, Ontario M5C 1T4 Untitled-7 1 Tel: 416-863-9543 Fax: 416-863-9757 www.rainmakergroup.ca www.lawtimesnews.com 5/29/08 1:05:49 PM

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