Law Times

Law Times • February 7, 2011 NEWS PAGE 3 Cutting off former treasurers a 'mistake' Rules allow past leaders to speak but not vote at Convocation BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times G overnance reforms that cut former treasurers off from Convocation are "a mistake," according to one former treasurer who be- lieves they have a unique per- spective to off er. Benchers passed an amend- ment to the Law Society of Up- per Canada's bylaws at its meet- ing on Jan. 27 that will allow former treasurers to speak but not vote during debates at Con- vocation. But even that right is lost if the former treasurers fail to attend three consecutive meetings of Convocation. Sydney Robins, who was trea- surer of the LSUC between 1971 and 1974 before his appoint- ment to the Supreme Court of Ontario, told benchers Convo- cation should be allowed to hear from its past leadership. "Th ey have no vote in any event, so they're already mut- ed to that extent," he said. "I would suggest that the removal- of-rights aspect be removed it- self and that former treasurers be here, be welcomed here, par- ticipate as much as they want, when they want, and not be subjected to rules that require them to remain silent. "Th is rule would be more eff ective and it would be more welcoming to former treasurers in their role as emeritus bench- ers if they are simply here and can speak to Convocation." Th e new rules will apply only to future former treasurers, so Robins will retain his own vote at Convocation under grandfa- ther clauses in the governance reforms passed by benchers in December 2009. Th e reforms eliminated life benchers and imposed term lim- its on elected benchers who can now serve no more than three four-year terms. Th ose who reach the 12-year limit get the honorary title "emeritus bencher," meaning they can take part in hearing pan- els, appeal panels, and standing committees but can't attend or vote at Convocation. Th e LSUC's governance task force recommended a limited exception for former treasurers that allows them to speak in de- bates but stopped short of giving them voting rights. It noted in a report that "former treasurers with a vote can wield signifi cant infl uence as unelected members of Convocation." Th e attendance rule is de- signed to mirror the requirement that grandfathered former trea- surers and life benchers attend Convocation regularly in order to keep their voting rights. Th e amendments were too restrictive for Bencher Bradley Wright, who said Convoca- tion has always called upon and benefi ted from the accumulated wisdom of former treasurers in its 200-year history. "To impose on people who don't have a vote, an attendance requirement, it weakens the pool, it drives people away, and it deprives fu- ture convocations access to that pool of institutional memory and expertise," he said. But Bencher Th omas Heintz- man, who led the task force that recommended the changes, said it was essential to attach strings to any additional rights granted to unelected benchers. "Our committee and Convo- cation decided that attendance is a matter that goes to good gover- nance. If people don't attend for years and the public looks and sees there are people showing up and speaking who don't attend, they will arrive at the conclusion that that's bad governance," he said, noting that the rules will be reviewed again in fi ve years to see if they're working. Benchers also passed an ad- ditional amendment that would allow sitting treasurers to excuse grandfathered life benchers and former treasurers from the at- tendance requirements as long as they could provide "good and suffi cient reason" for their inabili- ty to attend. Th e same rule would apply to future former treasurers who want to retain their speaking rights without attending. But Wright said it didn't make sense to compare future former treasurers with their grandfa- thered counterparts because they lack the ability to vote, the most critical aspect of governance. "Th ere may be an exceptionally good reason why someone who has been paying attention for all these years and then suddenly an agenda item comes up in which that former treasurer is particu- larly expert. Th at person ought to be able to come and impart to Convocation their accumulated wisdom and expertise without treading over these unnecessary, and frankly silly, attendance rules," he said. Heintzman reconvened the governance task force more than a year after the law society accepted its recommendations 'Our committee and Convo- cation decided that attendance is a matter that goes to good governance,' says Thomas Heintzman. following a number of concerns raised about a new bylaw de- signed to enact the changes that passed in May 2010. At the time, Bob Aaron, a bencher from Toronto, called the bylaw "defective." He highlighted a loophole that could allow benchers to resign their posts early and stand for election to an additional term. Heintzman outlined an amendment that closes the loop- hole by disqualifying those who resign early in their fi nal term from standing again for election. "For someone to resign and then run again is simply a manipula- tion of the policy purpose be- hind term limits," he told Con- vocation. Benchers also voted to ac- cept the task force's recommen- dation to compensate emeritus benchers for their participation in committees and hearing pan- els without the 26-day deduct- ible period applicable to elected benchers. "Emeritus benchers are graduate benchers and do not have the entitlement or obligation to attend Convoca- tions," whereas elected benchers are expected to attend Convo- cation and committee days, Heintzman said. LT INCLUDES BROWN & BEATTY CANADIAN LABOUR ARBITRATION, FOURTH EDITION This online research service is designed with both labour law and labour arbitration practices in mind, so you can choose the content that fits your research needs. Labour Spectrum is your one-stop labour law research tool, combining expert commentary, case law and legislation with functionality that is practical and easy to use. Choose from: The Essential Edition Commentary • Canadian Labour Arbitration, Fourth Edition (Brown and Beatty) Donald J.M. Brown, Q.C., and David M. Beatty Arbitration Decisions Labour Arbitration Cases • (L.A.C.), series 1-4 — 1948 to present Consulting Editor: The Honourable Warren K. Winkler, Chief Justice of Ontario Editor: E.B. Willis • Canadian Labour Arbitration Summaries (C.L.A.S.) — 1986 to present • British Columbia Decisions, Labour Arbitration — 1981 to 2009 Court Decisions • A comprehensive collection of labour cases summarized in All-Canada Weekly Summaries from 1977 to present, including all court decisions cited in Canadian Labour Arbitration, Fourth Edition (Donald J.M. Brown, Q.C. and David M. Beatty) Legislation Labour legislation from all jurisdictions in Canada • PDF Images • • • PDF images of Labour Arbitration Cases (L.A.C.), with headnotes, exactly as they were published in L.A.C. PDF images of selected decisions from the Dominion Law Reports (D.L.R.), exactly as they were published in D.L.R. PDF images of reported and unreported decisions as they were released from the court or arbitrator, including court stamps and signatures Topical Indices Labour Arbitration Cases indices • • Canadian Labour Arbitration Summaries index • All-Canada Weekly Summaries (A.C.W.S.) – Labour Relations index • Dominion Law Reports (D.L.R.) – Labour Relations index Look for the for Select Decisions in our online services! The Classic EditionIncludes everything in the Essential Edition PLUS Commentary • Canadian Labour Law, Second Edition The Honourable George W. Adams, Q.C. • Willis & Winkler on Leading Labour Cases (formerly Labour Arbitration: The Year in Review) 2005 to present The Honourable Warren K. Winkler, Chief Justice of Ontario, and Elaine Willis • • • Labour Board Decisions Full-text labour board decisions cited in Canadian Labour Law, Second Edition (George W. Adams, Q.C.) a comprehensive collection of labour board decisions from com- mon law jurisdictions across Canada from 2009 forward British Columbia Labour Board Decisions • • — case summaries from 1979 to 2009 originally published under the Western Legal Publi- cations (WLP) imprint unsummarized British Columbia Labour Board decisions from 1971 to 1976 Court Decisions all court decisions cited in (George W. Adams, Q.C.) PDF Images • Canadian Labour Law, Second Edition PDF images of original labour board decisions as they were re- leased from the boards Citator • Case history and judicial treatments Includes PDFs PDFs of the L.A.C.'s pages and selected decisions from the D.L.R.s exactly as they appear in the law report complete with headnotes Call your Account Manager for details and pricing canadalawbook.ca • 1.800.263.2037 CANADA LAW BOOK® www.lawtimesnews.com

• Cover
• Helping Kids
• Scrutinizing Experts
• Focus On Family Law/Trusts & Estates