Law Times

PAGE 4 NEWS March 26, 2012 • Law TiMes BY MEREDITH MORRISON For Law Times F ew of the recipients of this year's Law Society Medal expected the honour, but none was more sur- prised than Mary Fox. "I was shocked," says Fox, a founding partner of Ducharme Fox LLP in Wind- sor, Ont. Fox was humble in her reaction to the honour. "I expressed my state of shock to the person who had nominated me and I wanted to know why that person did it without first speaking to me. Basically, the reason was that they knew if they spoke to me, I would not consent because I have been in this position before where someone asked to put my name forward and I didn't." Fox is among six lawyers who will receive the medal along with three oth- er professionals honoured with special awards. The medal recipients are: Mar- garet Bloodworth, Bruce Carr-Harris, James Caskey, Mary Fox, Vern Krishna, and Doug Lewis. In addition, the Lincoln Alexander Award goes to Keith Jobbitt; the Laura Legge Award to Mary Weaver; and the Law Society Distinguished Paralegal Award to Brian Lawrie. They'll receive the awards on May 23. "We are very pleased to honour the 2012 award recipients for their many contributions," said LSUC Treasurer Laurie Pawlitza. "The recipients all have a remarkable re- cord of public service, excellence in the profes- sion, and commitment to access to justice. These individuals reflect the highest ideals of the legal profession and serve as role models for current and future generations of law- yers and paralegals. We applaud them for their ongoing work to enhance the legal profession and their commitment to the public interest of Ontarians." Many of this year's recipients have had long careers. Caskey, for example, is in his 49th year of practice and says the passion he has for the field is as strong as ever. James Caskey "I must confess, I am still a partner at a law firm and that says that I love to go the office every day and meet people," he says. While the recipi- ents' practice areas vary, they've all used their po- sitions as lawyers to give back to the community. "It gives me the freedom to do the things that I re- ally want to do and public service was one of those things for me," says Cas- key, who teaches and mentors young lawyers. Caskey found his edu- cational work among the most rewarding pursuits of his career. Krishna, mean- while, took his passion for teaching and built his career around it. He knew he wanted to be a law professor when he first set foot in law school and has now been teaching for 37 years. He has even taught the children of his earliest students. Besides giving back to the legal com- munity by serving as benchers, sitting on committees, and teaching, the recipients have also worked to improve society as a whole. Fox has been working on edu- cational, medical, and civil justice causes and Lewis took his love of public service straight to Ottawa by becoming an MP. Carr-Harris found professional sat- isfaction when he took on the Interna- tional Olympic Committee and stood up for Canada's athletics program. He went to Geneva to fight for Beckie Scott's gold medal in 2004 following revelations that the original gold and silver medallists had been doping. Although taking on the big cases and having the ability to give back are draws to the legal field, Caskey and Lewis say they've also found fulfilment from the people and clients they've worked with. "I grew up in Toronto and had an opportu- nity to stay in Toronto with a bigger firm," says Lewis, who practises in Orillia, Ont. "But what I enjoy the most is practis- ing law in a smaller community where I would say about 95 per cent of my clients have some skin in the game and I'm not interrelating with the president of this or the vice president of that. I'm interrelat- ing with real people and that makes it very worthwhile." LT How will Ontario pay for omnibus crime bill? BY KENDYL SEBESTA Law Times P arole eligibility and com- munity programs could be on the provincial chopping block as Ontario grapples with the omnibus crime bill's added costs aſter it became law this month, criminal lawyers say. Bill C-10 received Royal as- sent this month despite growing opposition from a variety of play- ers, including legal groups and the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. Estimates from the ministry put the cost of Bill C-10 at more than $1 billion in infrastructure-related costs in Ontario alone. Now that it's law, questions are arising as to how the province will cover those costs at a time of austerity. "In my mind, the province has two options here," says David Rose of Neuberger Rose LLP. "It can either offload the costs of the bill to the federal govern- ment or it could possibly adjust parole eligibility. The federal gov- ernment has already said they won't accept the costs, so I don't know how the province is going to do it. Do they cut hospital fund- ing or stop building roads? That's pretty unlikely, so it will likely fall on the provincial justice system to face the brunt of the costs." Rose notes the province may have to consider adjusting parole eligibility in order to move less se- rious offenders from its jails. "The cost of this is overwhelmingly be- ing laid at the feet of the province," says Rose. "Ontario is facing $145 million per year just in soſt costs alone, and I really think it pro- vides a sobering reflection of the costs that are being borne on the provincial government. It's like a snowball coming down the hill." While Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has repeatedly em- phasized that the new law is re- sponding to Canadians' wishes for tougher sentences, Ministry of Community Safety and Correc- tional Services spokesman Seirge LeBlanc says Ontario taxpayers shouldn't have to pay the full costs of federal anti-crime efforts. "Bill C-10 will significantly im- pact our correctional population and operating costs. Our analysis AUTHORITATIVE INSIGHT INTO PURE ECONOMIC LOSS NEW EDITION ECONOMIC NEGLIGENCE: THE RECOVERY OF PURE ECONOMIC LOSS, SIXTH EDITION BRuCe FeldthuseN, B.A. (hoNs.), ll.B., ll.M., s.J.d. In Economic Negligence: The Recovery of Pure Economic Loss, Sixth Edition, author Bruce Feldthusen draws upon the law of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand to paint a thorough analysis of pure economic loss and recovery. His expertise in analyzing pure economical loss has been adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada; now you can use it to your own benefit. Previous editions of this title have been widely cited across a variety of Canadian jurisdictions and throughout all levels of Courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. ORDER # 984930 $150 Hardcover approx. 450 pages March 2012 978-0-7798-4930-7 A METICULOUS ACCOUNT OF PURE ECONOMIC LOSS • Negligent misrepresentation • Negligent provision of professional services • Recovery for inferior non-dangerous structures and products • Relational economic loss • Negligence of statutory public authorities • Comparative analysis on the concept of economic loss, specifically in Canada AVAILABLE RISK-FREE FOR 30 DAYS Order online at www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 has determined that the legislation may cost Ontario taxpayers more than $1 billion and may add as many as 1,500 additional inmates to the provincial correctional system, which would require a new 1,000- bed facility to be built." LeBlanc notes those additional costs will include more than $60 million annually in ongoing op- erating expenses for new jails and correctional institutions. There will also be costs for probation and parole officers to manage more offenders in the community. A recent report by the parlia- mentary budget officer also shows the provinces would have to pay $137 million in added costs for eliminating conditional sentences in certain circumstances under the new law. "We are really at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to incurred costs, and it's likely five or 10 times what is listed in the report," says defence lawyer Jospeh Neuberger. Christopher Hicks of Hicks Adams LLP says he feels the new law represents "backward think- ing about a modern problem." "It's so retro and really just a throwback," says Hicks. "Condition- al sentences were designed to keep people out of jail that didn't have to be there. Now, we'll just be putting more people right back into jail and raising sentencing times and it's go- ing to fall right onto the province." In the meantime, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correc- tional Services is calling for a fed- eral-provincial task force to discuss the crime bill. If there's no agree- ment on costs, it says it'll consider changes to custodial service agree- ments with the federal government. "If we are unable to reach an acceptable agreement to defray the costs, Ontario may have no choice but to seek other options to create capacity in our facili- ties, including reviewing current custodial service agreements with the federal government," says LeBlanc. LT www.lawtimesnews.com Public service key for 2012 Law Society Medal recipients

• Cover