Ultra Vires Vol 6 Issue 2 2004 Oct

..

THE INDEPE~DENT

STUDENT

NEWSPAPER

OF THE UNIVERSITY

OF TORONTO

FACULTY

OF LAW

u tra vires VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

BY BEN ARKIN

I

an'surprise move, the Faculty of Law released its budget to public scrutiny at a Faculty Council meeting earlier this month. Dean Ron Daniels released a budget summary, which gives figures for such expenses as faculty salaries and student financial aid, at the October 5 meeting.

Over the last few years, the SLS has advocated strongly for more transparency in Faculty governance. According to James McClary (Ill), SLS President, it has been an annual custom to ask the Dean to release financial information, However, these requests have always been rebuffed.

So it came as quite a surprise when Dean Daniels agreed to the same request this year.

"We weren't expecting this now," said McClary, who was hopeful that the event marked a positive change in the administration's attitude towards students. "It's a big step forward in the relationship between the SLS and the administration," he said.

The balance sheet. which shows general revenues and expenses as well as comparison data from 2002/2003, tells a few important stories. For example, between the two periods, faculty salaries have actually decreased as a percentage of the budget, which throws into doubt the claim that the inflation of professorial salaries is driving up tuition. On the other hand, financial aid as a percentage of the budget appears to have remained the same despite the university's com-

lNINDEX • BUDGEr INFORMAnON P.2 • GROUNDS OF APPEAL PP.4,7 ,10 • • • • •

OCISP.8 BRIDGE PAPERS INTERVIEW WITH THE DEAN P.12 JD PROGRAM GUIDE P.1S U.S. ELECTORAL COLLEGE P.17

an

• INTRAMURALS P.19

OCTOBER 19, 2004

mitment to accessibility during the major tuition hikes. Also, the revenue from tuition increases appears to have been siphoned off somewhat by universityimposed budget cuts.

However, because of its generality and lack of detail, tbe balance sheet is only of limited value to students. Us release, according to McClary, was more of a symbolic step in the right direction than one which actually created real transparency.

"It doesn't tell us the full story hehind the numbers," he said. He summed up his position, saying, "we want to see this every year, and we want to get more of the story behind the numbers."

Asked about whether the budget release marked a change in policy, Dean Daniels maintained that it merely reflected his commitment to the policy already in place.

"I think on tbe question of, 'will there be greater transparency?' I would say, 'will there be even greater transparency?'

This is a very transparent institution. The level of faculty and student involvement in the development of the various planning documents that we have worked on a few years ago. and eight or nine years ago on the first planning document, is really

unparalleled. " However, the Dean was more reluctant to make a commitment to release a more detailed breakdown of the Faculty's expenses. He asserted that students already bave access to a great amount of detail through their membership on such bodies as Faculty Council and the Financial Aid Committee. Furthermore, he maintained that there are some areas ;"hich cannot be subject to public disclosure.

Ultimately, however, the Dean held that the administration could discharge its commitment to transparency without having to provide more detail.

"I think tbe critical thing is that what the students asked me for and said was their principal interest was getting some sense of the overall budgetary environment and how we're spending increased funds that were coming to the faculty-and tbat document does that. So I think: it is part of what I believe to be a broader package of accountability that I and the administration owe to the faculty community," said Daniels.

The budget document appears on page 2.

Grand Mooters: Sidney McLean, leff Shafer, Nadine Rams, Rilary 13001<. See 1'.3

Dean proposes Fa\c net ,eloca1.lon

Flavelle was considered, it is not B feasible option as it would require shutting down The first Faculty Council meeting of the large parts of the building for one or two year, held on October 5, presented an years. More attractive. according to the opportunity for Dean Ron Daniels to Dean, is the possibility of "working on the unveil his plans for the Faculty for this Falconer footprint," to "retain the facade year. The list of sixteen bulleted items of Falconer and move it closer to included: a commitment to develop a Flavelle." This would disrupt some class"Capstone Program" which will allow es, offices, and the administration, but is a more manageable option than similarly third year students to engage in a special obstructing life in Flavelle. The Dean has project to end off their time in law school; plans to seek new faculty for existing but mentioned that more details will become available as the Faculty looks further into unfilled chairs at the law school; improved internationalization initiatives; and its options.

In addition to the Dean's draft priorities renewed talk of building projects to create list, the report of the undergraduate and more space for offices and classrooms. graduate admissions committees were This last proposal raised eyebrows when tabled at the Faculty Council meeting. the Dean elaborated that the proposal may From these reports, 182 first year students involve moving Falconer Hall closer to were registered tbis year, compared with Flavelle in future renovations.

180 last year, and 30 upper year transfer In a subsequent interview witb Ultra students were registered, compared with Vires, the Dean elaborated on his proposal 33 last year.

On the graduate side, the in greater detail. Explaining that some Faculty has welcomed 39 Masters students parts of the buildings are "really showing and 10 SID students, to bring the total their age," and that the buildings were not designed to accommodate the number of number of graduate students (including continuing students) to 109. Also professors and students that the Faculty currently houses or hopes to attract, the approved at Faculty Council were a numDean noted that the administration is look- ber of new awards for study at the law ing into several options. While adding to school.

BY ANDRfW P1U1AR

- ----------

---

ENJOY BEING

(HALLE

.

--

GED?CI

NBNS

2

ULTRA VIRES

Faculty Budget for 2004 . 2005 •

Faculty Sources of Revenue: University (before budget cut) Annual Gifts Bursaries and Scholarships

zoom 74% 2% 17% 7% 1Q(lli

15,413,422 477,844 3,386,210 1,164,931 20442407

75% 2% 17% 6% 1Q(lli

Research Grants Total Revenue Inel Research Grants

FaCUlty Expenditures: Cumulative Budget Cut Faculty Salaries and Reserach Support Library Other (Admin, Plant) Student Services & Academic Program Support Development Publications & External Relations Bursaries & Scholarships Endowed Income on Chair Positions Reinvested TOTALEXPENDITURES Research Grants TOTALEXPENDITURES INCL.RESEARCH GRANTS

386,722 7,250,843 1,880,113 1,638,818 2,199,030 311,375 409,800 2,877,268 245,230 16,953473 2,605,473 19,559,442

2.28% 42.77% 11.09% 9.67% 12.97% 1.84% 2.42% 16.97% 1.45% 100%

1,150,405 8,176,066 2,139,874 1,081,039 2,636,537 381,891 41"5,441 3,386,210 74,944 20367463 2,096,982 22,464,445

5.65% 40.14% 10.51% 10.22% 12.94% 1.88% 2.04% 16.63% 0.37% 1Q(lli

TOTALREVENUE

Development, Political Science Joint Chair, Hagan

Faculty of Law: Priorities 2004·05 Academic Year

• Alumni.Engagement: Law and Exhibit • Career Development: Alternative

Presented at FaCUltyCouncil October 5, 2004

Community - Locally, Provincially, Nationally, Internationally • Curriculum - Ethics, Practice and Principles.

• Capstone Experience

• Enhancing Accessibility in a Tuition Increase Free Zone

• Building Project(s) • Appointments: CRC Chair in Islamic Law, Evidence,

• Library Strengthening: New Faculty and Student Services .

• The Graduate Program:

• DLS: New Building, Immigration, Family Law • IHRP: New Initiatives • Appeal Procedure • Centres and Programs: Capital

Lang Michener Lawyers - Patent

lI. Trade

Completing the Integration Initiative

3

Grand Mooters display nerves of steel before packed MeR house

BY MEG HAN RILEY

• Pro Bono Canada: The National Program

• Internationalization Initiatives • Crossroads Initiative: Touching the

Commercial, Graham Law and

NEWS

Prestigious Justices hear arguments on Guantanamo Bay "legal black hole"

~

12,677,421 403,182 2,877,281 1,241,315 17199199 2,605,473 19,804,672

Endowed Income on Chair Positions

19 OCTOBER2004

Literature Series, Female Photo

Careers, Internationalization, Alumni Services

Markets and Centre for Innovation

UV: On the information superhighway since 1999.

On Tuesday, September 28, the Moot Court Room was filled 10 capacity with spectators for the "Grand Moot", an annual event which displays the superior oral advocacy skills of four of the University of Toronto's finest upper-year mooters.

This event has long been an honour for those chosen to participate, as it takes previous commitment to the mooting program, and selection via a competitive tryout, to earn a spot. Adding to the prestige is the fact thaI the event is presided over by the Dean of the law school, and a panel of res peeled justices from Canadian courts. The four students participating this year, chosen in last Marcb's Iryouts, were Nadine Harris, Hilary Book, Sidney McLeao and Jeff Shafer, all third year students. The panel of three judges for this year's moot was comprised of Honourable Justice Micbel Proulx, who has receotly retired from the Quebec Court of Appeal to work at Davies in Montreai, Honourable Justice Stephen Goudge, of the Ontario Court of Appeal, and Honourable Justice James M. Spence, of the Ontario Superior Court.

In addition to the mooters and tbe judges, the event is attended by the

event's organizers, family members of the mooters, and members of the University of Toronto Law School and the legal community al large. Audrey Ackah and Ellen Snow, both third year students, acted as "Co-Chief Justices". Third year student Emily Orchard served as the "Associate Chief Justice". Students in their second year, who served as "Second Year Associates", were: Nader Hasan, Tamara Kagan, Agape Lim, Bonny Mak, Penelope Ng, Catherine Powell, Aaron Rousseau, Christine Shalaby, and Evan Thomas. There was also a panel of "RunThrough Judges", which included faculty members from the U ofT law school, and lawyers from the community.

The issue being excavated this year was a fictional scenario that closely paralleled a recent situation in Canada. In this fictional case, taking place in "Flavelle", the human rights of a Mr. Aziz, who was deported to the United States on the pretence of certain criminal activity, were allegedly violated. Once Mr. Aziz reached the United States, he was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an American prison, known as a "legal black hole". The American government claimed Ihat Mr. Aziz likely had terrorist connections. The Flavellian government bad not known that Mr. Aziz was going 10 be sent

Guantanamo Bay when it deported him, aod it did not attempt to have him freed, once it discovered the circumstances that resulted from his deportation.

Nadine Harris and Hilary Book spoke first and represented the appellants, Mr. Aziz and his mother. Essentially, tbey argued that tbe events surrounding tbe deportation, and subsequent sequestering of Mr. Aziz in the Guantanamo Bay prison, violated Flavellian laws, and that the Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs had duties to act, or consider acting, on behalf of Mr. Aziz and his mother, to secure his human rights, and to ensure that Flavellian Jaws were upheld and respected.

Sidney McLean and Jeff Shafer spoke second and represented the respondents, the Flavellian government's Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs.

The crux of their argument was that the Ministers had considered the situation, and that the decision not to intervene reflected a higher policy decision made by the Flavellian government. They also submitted that due to the sensitive nature of the issue of terrorism, traditional rules and laws could not be strictly adhered to in the same ways as they would otherwise be. It should be noted that botb sides of the argument were more complex than can be accurately summarized here. Each 10

mooter had about 20 minutes to speak, and were asked questions throughout their submissions by the Justices.

Throughoul the moot, the justices were very involved and challenged both sides equally. However, as the moot drew to a close, the mood in the room changed when each Justice made comments. Ali three of the Justices praised the mooters on their preparation, delivery, and ability to withstand the pressures of having their arguments dissected, and their reasoning challenged. They said the moot was very much like a real courtroom situation (except for the applause- which they joked would he a nice addition if it exclusively followed their rulings) and that they have seen litigators crumble under comparable circumstances.

There was no one side declared the winner; F Paul Morrison from McCartby Telrault, one of tbe sponsors of the Grand Moot, handed out awards to all four mooters, Dean Ron Daniels drew the event to a close, and invited everyone to a reception in the Rowell room. Overall, the Grand Moot was a splendid success again this year. Ar.y students interested in participating in mooting should check the Moot Court board for information regarding upcoming opportunities.

www.ultravires.ca

New York OCI Worries LLP

BY ANDREW PlWAR

Mark Agents

Students who had applied for New YQI:kjobs were a little perturbed when they were told \bat their second round interviews in New York would take place after the Toronto firms' notification date. This would have left those students in theuncomfortable position of baving to choose between cities up front, or to back, out of any Toronto Job offers if they later proved successful in New York. Fortunately, the COO was able to help, and interviews were rescheduled for October.

Conflicts like thiS are not unheard of, but Bonnie Goldberg, Assistant Dean, Career Development, noted \bat the COO has always been able to find a solution by communicating the problem to the New York firms. Goldberg added that Toronto firms conduct hiring later than New York firms, and that New York firms are typically not as conscious of Toronto timelines as students are. Possible long-term solutions could include pushing OCls to earlier in the year, though this is not at present a likely move, as it would require coordination with McGill and Osgoode.

OCls by the numbers To give you an idea of what OCts look like, here are the breakdowns for this year's interviews:

Toronto OCls Number Number Number Average

of employers - 39 of students (one or more interview) - 163 of interviews granted 1323 interviews per student - approximately 8

New York/Boston OCls Toronto BCE Place 181 Bay Street, Suite 2500 P.O. Box 747 Toronto ON MSJ 2T7

Attention: Scott Whitley Director of Professional Tel: 416-360-8600 Fax: 416-365-1719

Development

Number Number Number Average

of employers 10 of students (one or more interview) - 63 of interviews .granted - 222 interviows-per student 3.5

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J NEWS

4

ULTRAVIRES

Alarie returns to U ofT as prof

BY NICOLE RICHMONO Just two and a half short years ago, Benjamin Alarie was a JD student at the law school. But after completing an LLM from Yale and a Supreme Court clerkship with Madam Justice Louise Arbour, he is back-this rime behind the lectern. At tbe age of only 26, Professor Alarie has joined tbe law school faculty as one of the four new professors hired this year. He notes that it might be a few years hefore he can fully adjust to the new relationship he has with his former professors-now colleagues--but Professor Alarie is enjoying himself so far. He says that it was not difficult to decide to return to teach at the law school. "It is without a doubt tbe best law school in Canada." And, he adds, "My wife really wanted to stay in Canada".

Professor Alarie grew up in Baden, Ontario, near Kitchener. He skipped the second grade, which helps account for all that he has accomplished at such a young age. A high school athlete, be played football, rugby, basketball and golfed in junior tournaments. He was at Laurier for his undergrad, and studied business for two years before switching to economics and finance.

Toronto was the only Canadian law school be applied to. He notes, "If you have your eye ultimately on practising law in Toronto, it is relatively easy to sit for the

Massachusetts or New York bar having attended a Canadian law school-but it doesn't work so well the other way around."

His love for research and academia was evident even as a first year law student. He remembers Professor Martha Shaffer, his small group criminal law prof, asking him in first semester of first year whether he was interested in academia. In the summer after first year, Alarie worked as a research assistant for Professor Michael Trebilcock and Dean Ron Daniels on a "government by voucher" project. This research has since been published. In second year, he did an

hoice

international trade and business law fellowship with Osiers, in whicb he worked for the first half of the summer at the law fiml and for the second half as a research assistant with Professor Trebilcock on law and immigration issues. Alarie notes, "THe great thing is, they pay your salary for the whole summer and it doesn't cost the professor anything. Plus, the money is much better tban the salary a research assistant receives."

This year, Professor Alarie is teaching a small group contracts class and Canadian income tax law class. "I can foreshadow

that people are really going to love tax," he says, in complete sincerity. Why? Alarie notes that students frequently enter tax law with such low expectations, thinking it will be very technical and limited to dry accounting analysis. However, he insists that students are often pleasantly surprised about how engaging tax law can be. Alarie also credits his tax law teacher, Professor Duff, with getting him excited about tax law and is thankful for his professor's "infectious enthusiasm for the subject."

Professor Alarie's research interest is the intersection between law and economics, and how economic incentives can be taken into account in a legal regime to achieve any given goal. For example, law and economics can figure out how to serve socially beneficial goals like equity and redistribution while promoting economic efficiency. His current research focuses on the taxation of windfall gains, such as lottery winnings. Professor Alarie applies behavioural economics to suggest that to tax lottery winnings would not likely distort the bebaviour of gamblers. His past research interests include the role of tax policy in dealing with the over-compensation of senior executives. He is quick to point out that his economic analysis is distinct from tbe political decisions that would be required to implement these various tax policy models. Professor Alarie's advice to law students is an ecbo of the advice he received from Justice Arbour when he was deciding whether to apply for a position at U of T. How do you follow your dreams? She said: "Just go for it don't worry about it, just go for it."

They're the people who keep the law school running on a day-to-day basis. Whether it'S jUicing us up on Starbucks coffee or keeping the Rowell Room Clutter-free, the staff at the Faculty of Law make life that much more hospitable. In this and upcoming issues, we will be talking to the various members of the staff In and around law school.

Allen, Grounds of

Appeal

,

Students at Ogilvy Renault

get hands-on experience right away. As a summer student, I helped with discoveries and assisted on a two-week trial. ,

,

Kateri-Anne Grenier kgrenier@ogilvyrenault.com

UV: How long have you worked here?

SA: Since September.

UV: Have you worked at U of T before?

SA: I worked at the OISE building, Where , the ed ucatlon students are.

UV: What do you like most about your job?

SA: Just dealing With the customers. I like Interacting With people, talking to people.

UV: Have you gotten to know any of the students or professors?

SA: Not really. I think two prOfessors came by this morning-but I don't remember their names llau9hSl. W: What are your hOurs like?

SA: Oh, earlY. I usuallY get here at least by 7:20. But I'm a morning person, even thougtl It's tough.

W: What do you thInk Of the students here?

SA: They're pretty nIce. People drink a lot Of cOffee here, that's for

sure.

UY: be you drink coffee?

SA: NO,I don't. I Just don't IIIte It. I trjed it before, and It got me hyper.

I was Just mOVing around all the time, fast fast fast. I was like, what's wrong with me?

OGllVY

RENAULT

-

ogilvyrenault.com r""""lo·MlII'IlIta OtUwo·Qufbtlc

_·Lon6onruKl

5

HELMUT consoles victim of OCI mlndgames DEAR HELMUT Feeling down? Health Enables Legal Minds at the UniversityofToronto (HELMUT)offers advice Dear HELMUT; I just went through OCls. I really enjoyed them-except for the interviews. I don't know if they went well. 1feel like 1

said the same things to everyone, and worse, everybody says they had a good experience. Everyone was really nice for' the few days of interviews, but 1know that lurking behind this is rejection. This is like Valentine s Day in grade two all over again ...

tally winking at an interviewer as you shake their hand, flasbing a big smile with spinach in your teeth, etc. But at the end of the day, it's not about getting more callbacks than everyone else. It's a process of trying each other on and finding "a good fit". Sometimes that means compromise.

Sometimes that means that you have to reevaluate your interview priorities. If you get your phone calls-great.

If not, get back up, dust yourself off, and remember that a mark of toughness is in how you recover from unexpected difficulties.

~ Passive and Aggressive in Second Year

Dear HELMUT; J was soooo excited about going to law school, but now that I'm here, 1don '(feel like I've learned anything about the law yet, I'm miles behind in the readings, and I'm bored Help!

-- Keener Gone Wrong

DearPASY, You are prohably expecting something like: "Don't worry, we're sure it's not as bad as you think. Rejection is a part of the process-you can look at the process as a cbance to find other opportunities if the call-backs don't work out." That may be reassuring, and if it helps, go with it.

If not, here is how HELMUT views OCIs. It's a dating game. Your grade two Valentine's fears aren't too far off. You have a short time to make a good impression, and it doesn't always go the way you want. Sometimes, you end up doing something you didn't want to do to the people you really want to impress-like acciden-

DearKGW, Don't despair. Althougb you may feel like you haven't absorbed much, by the end of the year, you'll marvel at how many different cases you can list and at how your mind has begun to "think like a lawyer." As for being bored, some people enjoy learning about the law more than others-you're not alone if you are less than enthusiastic. The law may grow on you, particularly when you get to take electives. 1£ not, you can add some excitement to your life by getting involved in activities at the law school that focus on an area of the law that you are interested in.

Or. consider some non-law activities.

There's a variety available at the law school, in the broader U of T community, and in your neighbourhood. Why not try something new? If you're miles behind on the readings, realize that it is extremely rare to find a student who actually completes all of tbe readings and, even more rare, to find someone who does it on time.

Borrow some summaries, try to figure out what is most important, focus on cases that spark your interest, and assess whether you can improve your time management.

Dear HELMUT; Law school reminds me of a can of sardines. There isn i that much room, people are packed in, and everyone has a vacant, "not there" look in their eyes. I guess 1 was expecting a school this size to feel more friendly-more like a community.

How do we put the "unity" back in "community"?

- Underwhelmed Dear Underwhelmed, We know what you mean. Do you remember Hilary Clinton's borrowed phrase "it takes a village to raise a child?"

Sometimes we think that ifthis school was a village, the cbildren it turned out would need LOTS of help. As a child of the law school yourself, perhaps help is in order.

The question about community is one that many people think about, but it doesn't necessarily show. Some people fmd that things hghten up after the first few

the circle of friends that they've accumulated in first year or outside of law school.

Some people subscribe to the beliefthat by doing more tbings, and by trying to involve more people -in more things, people will feel closer. Maybe these work. In our experience, the best thing for everyone to do is JUST CHILL,OUTI It's true that saying this can be like being told not to touch the cookie jar, but there are ways to adjust and mitigate your type-A personality some of the time. For example, try smiling or saying hello to people you don't know. Try striking up a conversation with someone who you 've never spoken to.

Take a few minutes out of your day to watch the world go by. Come out to tbe HELMUT/SLS yoga session that is in the works (trust us-you'll see more in the weeks to come). At the end of the day, you should at least be able to say that you tried to enjoy law school. People say that school days are "the best of your life." While we don't necessarily believe the cliche, we do believe that school should be an enjoyable and memorable experience.

months of f\rSt year. or certain\)! after

December tests. Some people keep within

Amicus Curiae

Name: Sherry

,

HELMUT

19 OCTOBER 2004

- Adrian Uu

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I

NEWS & FEATURES

19 OCTOBER2004

Maria Ferraz leaves Grounds of Appeal ment of the dentistry building for only a week before the same thing happened again.

"In dentistry they gave me 7 hours (a day) and after one week they said, 'oh, we don't have enough business, so I have to give you 6 hours.' I said 'no, I want my hours. '" Ferraz was finally moved to her current position at the Pizza Pizza counter in the Medical Sciences Building cafeteria.

"It looks like for them, it doesn't matter how many years you work in the company," she added.

Ferraz has worked for Sodhexo, the company that runs the U ofT campus cafeterias, for seven years. She feels that her current treatment might have something to do with the fact that she is actively involved with HERE 75 (Hotel Employees, Restaurant Employees Local 75), the union that is attempting to certify with the school's cafeteria workers.

BY JONATHAN OESBARATS Tbe question bas been on the minds of a number of upper year students and faculty since returning to the law school in September: wbere's Maria?

Maria Ferraz, a mucb loved employee at tbe "Grounds of Appeal" cafeteria, who started working at tbe law school's cafeteria in 1999, was moved to a new location this year. This summer Ferraz was told by her employer that her hours were being cut. She insisted on keeping full-time hours and as a result sbe was moved-fIrst to tbe dentistry cafeteria, tben to tbe Medical Sciences building.

"They came to me and said 'well if you want to stay in tbe law school, we can just give you four hours (a day).' I said, 'four hours? No, I'm full time, I cannot stay here for four bours," said Ferraz.

Ferraz was at the cafeteria in the base-

LEGAL-ISH HAL1OWE'EN FACTOIDS

"All the other employees at U ofT have a union. Why not us? You can go to work and be happy if you know your wage is going to be OK, and you know you have a secure job, and things like that. Not like today I have 8 hours, tomorrow [ have 7, after I have 6. My bills are still coming."

So far approximately 70 per cent of the cafeteria workers at the downtown campus have signed' on in support of the union, according to Ferraz.

Ferraz said she misses the law school, and that she felt like part of a family there.

She said she knew many ofthe students by name, and some of them carne to her with their problems.

Representatives from Sodexho, the company that operates all of the U of T campus cafeterias, did not respond to UV's request for an interview prior to deadline.

Adieu to Youppi

In February 1692, three accused women were examined by Magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne for the crime of . BY JUDA STRAWClYNSKI witchcraft, During the course of the "trials· ,.24 people were killed. With the Expos set to move to Washington, Since 1995, trick or treating in the town of Sandusky, Ohio, has Montrealers and die-hard Canadian baseball fans are not just mourning the loss of a great been against the law for anyone older than 14, In 2000, the ACLU filed. a lawsuit on behalf of a Wiccan Oklahoma high-school student accused by school officials of cfisting a nex on her teacher.

baseball tearn. The departure of our dear Expos also marks the passing of Youp pi, the furry fan-favourite mascot of Montreal's major-league team.

As a rookie Youppi charged into Olympic Stadium, replacing Sousa, a scrawny. pin-striped Expos mascot known and mocked [or his ping-pong ball head. \t was an historic moment Youppi was the Jackie Robinson of mascots, breaking the colour bar by becoming the first orange-

Challenge yourself in law.

And in life.

BORDEN

Talk to a member of our National

LADNER

Student Recruitment Team.

GERVAIS

Borden I

,

,.

Ladner ,

OTTAWA Walter DiCesare 613-787·3509

MONTR£AL Janet casey 514-954-3125

CALGARY Colin MacDonald 403-232-9523

•

Gel\<1I'i I

I

VANCOUVER Marketta Jokinen 604·640-4176

TORONTO Laleh Moshiri 416-367-6133

LLP I

II

I.

\ I

'

I

I

coloured mascot to make it to the bigleagues. He quickly won over fans. Despite being born with a beer-belly, Youppi could still slide safely into home plate, drive an ATV, keep up with the fitness instructors during the 7th Inning Stretch, and dance, dance, dance. Even when the team was down, he always managed to keep a shiny, googly-eyed grin on his face that reminded us that, in the end, 'baseball was still just a game.

Adored by Montrealers, Youppi played an active role at the Big 0 as well as in the Mo~treal community. As an Expos ambassador, he attended hundreds of community events. In the off-season, while most players took off on the first plane headed to funin-the-sun, Youppi could be seen bundled up doing his groceries at Atwater Market, walking along Sherbrooke, or taking in the view from the top of Mount Roya1.

Youppi accepted his role model status, and played the part more seriously than his laughing gaze would ever revea1. Always the classy gentleman, he could never be seen with a drink or cigarette in hand. He was protective of his private life, and cautious with promotional activities. True, his face smiled on the front of a child vitamin product, but most of the time he used his smile to promote cbaritable activities, or to coax the shyest children to help him lead the "wave", Youppi was twenty-five. Although he was too young to die, his energy, compassion and cheer will live on in all baseball fans.

7

SLS Town Hall sparsely attended

BY KEIR W1LMUT On October 13, approximately 30 students attended the second annual Students' Law Society Town Hall. A forum to discuss student issues and concerns with the law school, the town hall was an opportunity for students to give their input on SLS priorities for the year. Lunch was also served.

"Holding town halls allows us to hear more of the questions or concerns students have," said SLS President James McClary (1II). "The town hall format provides an opportunity for interested students to speak directly to SLS Student Caucus. SLS Student Caucus can then bring issues to the faculty council and its various committees."

Urszula Wojtyra (II) believes the town halls are useful. "The opportunity to voice concerns in a group setting like that is very valuable. It's encouraging to see that there are many of us in the same situation:' she said.

However, she feels "it's a problem that the meeting was called with such short notice, and that so few people were there. It's kind of hard to schedule priorities if only a small proportion of the students are voicing their opinions." Dylan Budd (II) shares this concern about student apathy, noting that "even the lure of free pizza got a weak turnout."

While the issues discussed included curriculum development, admissions, student affairs, problems with the CDO, transparency, and access\bi\\t'y, b)' far the most contentious issue WMo fmanc\a\ aid. ""'This )'e\ll'o:; \O'W'O. \\a.\\ \tv1\ca\ed \ha.\. \he maln ~ 0'\ students is tbe JimmciaJ sid __ "n.-..

McClary. "There are issues both with the assessments for second- and third-year students and with the transparency of the program." Wojtyrn concurs. suggesting that "the fact that so many people have issues with something like financial aid reaUy should force the administration to take the situation more seriously."

McClary promises that the SLS will act on the issues raised by 'students, '1 have asked Faculty Council's Financial Aid Committee to address some of the concerns regarding this year's disbursements for upper year students. In addition, student members of the Financial Aid Committee will seek to improve the transparency of the program by, for example, working on language used in the description of the financial aid program.

Students will be able to keep track of issues raised at the town hall by reviewing the SLS minutes published in Headnotes." .

Wojtyra would like to see the SLS apply more pressure. '1' d like to see the SLS bear down on the administration about the issues raised. That means not only speaking to them behind closed doors, but also vocalizing through Ultra Vires and perhaps even having something akin to the town hall with the administration. SLS has to bridge the gap, but the bridge can't simply be between the SLS and the administration. More communication is necessary."

•{ tI f

l

8

FEATURES

ULTRAVIRES

O

The OCI process itself is quite stale and mechanical, and really does nothing to discourage feelings of anxiety or tension.

About every 20 minutes, students would gather outside a large conference room.

Either Bonnie. Suzanne, or Lianne from the COO would then announce tbat the next round of interviews were starting, and everyone would go and find the small, curtained-off area where the firm tbey were

n October 7 and 8, 162 fearless students from the Faculty of Law participated in the much-heralded OCls, or on-campus interviews. Most of us had been hearing about this soul-charring process since the first month of first year. Caring and nurturing upper-year mentors proclaimed, "all of you will do it, no matter what you think about corporate law and the infamous Bay Street." A 17minute conversation would begin the rest The interviewer responded of your life.

"I'm sorry, that's just not the With this kind of pressure, I naturally expected to find a group of students that right question to ask." were tense, hostile, and miserable. And yes, there was definitely some of that. Kerr Wilmut was so stressed he cut himself interviewing with was stationed. Students shaving. I asked Shaunik Katyal how be would try to impress until a buzzer soundwas feeling, and he responded by saying, ed indicating the interview was over. One "guy, if I don't get a job, I am supremely person referred to the whole process as [expletive)." Nick Daube took great plea"ruthlessly efficient"-which I think the sure in recounting for me bow Danny COO can take as a compliment-and simBertao, when he couldn't find the gap in ilar to "herding sheep". While most stuthe curtain, began punching the curtain in dents were quite patient throughout the desperation and knocked out an interviewentire process, at least one student ran to er. The line between fact and fiction blurs every interview. I guess every second easily. counts.

However, for the most part, everyone The interviews, as I am sure they seemed pretty easygoing. Most, if not all, always do, provided a number of memoof the hostility Was directed at me for rable moments. Sopbia Javed mentioned in attempting to document the pain of my fel- an interview that she was ''very interested low classmates. In retrospect, I am willing . in working for a large, general service firm to admit that the bostility was somewhat like Blakes." She then looked down at the well-deserved. But only somewbat. pamphlet she was just given, wbicb read

"Davies, Ward, Pbillips & Vineberg."

Good luck, Sophia!

Christine Shalaby was introduced immediately to the cold-heartedness of Bay Street. In one of her interviews, Christine asked the interviewer to describe the values of the firm's summer program.

The interviewer responded, "I'm sorry, that's just not the right question to ask."

So, what was the rigbt question? Can I pay you to work for you?

One interviewer said to Stephanie Pearce, "1 hope you're nice, even though you are from Newfoundland." Another interviewer, after asking her about her public interest and human rigbts experience, asked ber "do you think you can bandIe Bay Street?" Umm, no I don't. I just thougbt I would waste two days telling people I don't want to work in corporate law.

Another interviewer had a very unique way of promoting his firm. When asked what makes it different than bigger Toronto law firms, the interviewer responded, "well, big law firms don't bire jerks. They are so concerned witb getting the right 'fit', they pass on tbe jerks. See, jerks may be jerks, hut they may he good lawyers. Smaller and mid-size firms, like us, take cbances on the jerks."

Judith Borts felt the brunt of one firm's disorganization, After a few minutes of chit-chat, tbe interviewer asked about ber experiences related to a job listed on her resume. Confused, Judith responded, "I'm

9

The Ups and Downs of Bay Street: UV's Elevator Audit

Stale, mechanical OCI process like "herding sheep"

BY RAHOOL AGARWAL

FEATURES

19 OCTOBER 2004

sorry, what job are you referring to?" The interviewer, now looking embarrassed, replied: "Oh my god, I am so sorry. I am looking at the wrong resume." Yeah, good job, multi-million dollar company.

Another student recounted to me bow on the second day, in addition to missing his first interview because of being late, be realized after two more interviews be bad cut himself while shaving and was bleeding all over his white sbirt. He ran to the bathroom, washed bimself off, and then proceeded to his next interview. At the lunch break, he looked down and saw that bis fly was undone. "Yeah, that wasn't so good," said the student. .

The highlight of the two-day extravaganza was, as one might have guessed, the junk that firms give out in an attempt to bribe the students. The gifts included mints from McMillan Bincb, a calculator from Gowlings, silly putty from Heenan Blaikie, and some type of multi-tool tbing from Cassels Brock & Blackwell. The favourite item, tbough, was Aird & Berlis's all-in-one highlighter and stickytab dispenser. "Now we can read and tab in one swift motion!" exclaimed a visibly excited Shaunik Kaytal, Well, tbat brings us to tbe end tbe first stage of this wonderful biring process.

Some people will move forward and go back to the firms, wbile others will begin searcbing for otber opportunities.

Remember, if things don't go your wayjust blame the high tuition.

BY ADRIAN UU, PATRICK HOUSSAIS & ZIMRA YETNIKOFF

Television? Yes, in the comer.

Accessibility: (Patrick) The button numbers are raised. but the floor display panel is tiny and all the way above the door.

Wait Time: 10-15 seconds.

Lurcb Factor: There was a strong lurch, and a bit of shaking, but Dot as bad as First Canadian Place.

Comments: (Zimra) The elevator looks like a living room right out

Wbether it's getting lost on PATH, or taking the wrong elevator, the OCI or articling resume run and interview visit to Bay Street can be overwhelming and just downright scary. And the elevators--<lozens ofthemare just the beginning. That's why UV took a tour of everyone's favourite office towers and got the skinny on their elevators-how they look, if they're easy to use, and whether they have mirrors so you can check your makeup while you ride.

Excbange Tower Number of Floors: 36 Decor: Tbe lobby is awash with granite and the elevator doors are a rather non-complementary shade of copper. Tbe inside is lit with numerous lighted columns and features spaced out mirrors. There are panels of abstract on the walls.

Television? Yes-s-the screen shows today's weather and offers memorable quotes sucb as, "Great work is done by people who are not afraid to be great."

Accessibility (for the Visually-Impaired): No signs about where the elevators are, and the signs about which floors the elevators service are too high to reacb and feel. Inside, there's no voice announcing the current floor. The buttons are large, but don't have Braille.

Comments: (Adrian) What's with the art? It looks like a wannabe Surrealist painting, or an abstract jungle scene gone wrong. Either way I feel like I'm beaded into The Heart of

Darkness.

(Zimra) It's extremely wann in here. Watch the wool suits. And if you're coming for an interview, show up early so you have time to cool off before you have to start sbaking hands.

First Canadian Place Number of Floors: 72 Decor: The lobby is very open, well lit and made of huge columns of smooth, white marble. The elevator doors are a shiny shade of gold. The interior is wood-panelled with gold trim. The lighting emits a strangely orange-yellow glow around the wbole space. No mirrors.

Television? No. Accessibility: Again, no voice to announce the floor. Tbere is a display, but it's too high

Exchange Tower Elevator Features "Wannabe Surrealism" _____________________ to see. The numbers on the button panel are raised, but they're still bard to feel and read.

Lnrch Factor: On a ride from the ground floor to the 72nd floor, there was some significant shaking and bad ear popping felt by all three of us.

Comments: (Zimra) The carpets in the lobby are an ugly geometric brown pattern.

The orangey-brown interior is pretty unpleasant too.

(Adrian) The crazy thing about these elevators is that they're "double-decker". The bottom half services odd floors only, and the other the even floors. So once in a while, it'll stop temporarily and a sign tights up that says "serving other floor." That freaked me

out!

(Zimra) Remember that part in "The Genuine Article" where the girl couldn't fig-

ure out how to get to the floor she needed for the cocktail party? This was the problem.

Real-Life Ride rs : (UV) We're doing an elevator audit. What do you think of the elevators in this building? (Riders) (laughter, fol/owed by exiting the elevator).

Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower Number of Floors: 54 Decor: The lobby features colourful tapestries banging on its walls. The lobby is made of light marble that's a very interesring texture. Generally the lobby was much quieter than the other buildings. There are concrete benches for people to sit on. Inside, there's more wood panelling and grey, steel elevator doors. No mirrors.

of the 60s! That's pretty disappointing given tbat the lobby has such a cool and clean feel-

ing.

Scotia Plaza Number of Floors: 68 Decor: The decor of this building stood out from the rest. The lobby was made of soft red and black granite with silver trim.

Overall the lobby used warmer tones and echoed the exterior. Various potted plants and other greenery lined the hallways, providing a contrast to the structural colour scheme. The elevator had a dark interior made of wood and gold trim. The ceiling was mirrored, as were the elevator doors.

be. But not with the lawyers-s-they seem to want to talk.

BCE Place - Canada Trust Tower Number of Floors: 51 Decor: The lobby is located in a very highceilinged and airy space. The vaulted ceiling lets in a lot of light giving the building a comfortable feel. The elevators have grey steel grille doors and inside, the interior features curved wood panels on all sides.

Television? Yes, above the door. The display features breaking news, stock quotes, and ads for investment companies. One message read, "Why sbould lawyers wear lots of sunscreen when vacationing?

Because they're used to doing all of tbeir lying indoors."

Comments: (Zimra) The wood paneling seems fake and plasticky. I liked the ligbting thougb. There's a wraparound tube at tbe edges of the elevator so the ceilings are higher than in most elevators. The lighting is indirect because there's a barrier hlocking the overhead lights.

(Adrian) People are also polite. We tried running for the elevator, just to test people's elevator etiquette, and they held the door for us.

Real-Life Riders: (UV) Do you have any comments about these elevators? (Rider) There's this awful wind tunnel when you get to the bottom. When you get out, it's like stepping into a hurricane!

Ministry ot tbe A.ttorne)' Genera\ 'Television'? No. Number of V\oon.~ \ \.

Accessibility: Again, the numbers mSlde Decor: The loooy was smaller than \he the elevator aren't raised-in fact they're other buildings. There was reddish-grey cardepressed! It would be a hard time finding peting and pink marble walls. There's a lot the right button for a floor. of mirrors in the lobby. perhaps in order to

Wait Time: 20-plus seconds. This was one of the longer waits we experienced in all of the buildings.

Comments: (Adrian) Another one of those double-decker elevators. This time the elevator stopped severaJ times in one ride to serve other floors.

(Zimra) A lot more thought went into these elevators than the others. There's a lot of detail involved: the curved walls in the elevator and the stripey effect on the insides of the doors.

(Adrian) They had a confusing configuration. The elevators for floors 56-68 are next to the ones that go to 24-40.

Real-Life Riders: (UV) Are people friendly in tbese elevators? (Rider) Well, I try to

make it look more spacious. The elevator doors are gold, and there's only one bank.

Inside, the interior was small. It had plain, brown walls and a dimly lit mirror at the back.

Television? No. Accessibility: This was the only elevator that was fully accessible for the visually impaired! There is Braille on the buttons, plus a bilingual voice announcing the floor and whether the elevator is going up or down.

Comments: (Adrian) It's rather telling that tbe government office would have the plainest, but also the most accessible elevators.

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t OPINION & EDITORIAL

10

ULTRA VIRES

EDITIORIAL

I GOT BEEF: UNSOLICITED ADVICE FROM WILLIAM B. STINCHCOMBE

Whiners, whingers and lifting that legendary veil

I've got a bean to pick with U (of T, that is)

A

s you know, we here at UV are all about nitpicking and whining. Thus it was with great pleasure tbat we heard of Dean Ron Daniels decision to present a copy of the "budget" to Faculty Council earlier this month.

Looking at the budget, there aren't a lot of nits that we can pick. Nowhere in this budget dnes it say anything about profes-

vious years that seems to have been the clear message from the administrationleave the dollars and cents to us ... you just worry about that whole "striving for excellence" thingy.

Well, in addition to being wbiners and whingers, we UVers are also rousers of rabble. We humbly submit tbat no good can come of the veil of secrecy tbat seems to surround a lot of the decision-making at sor washrooms being adorned in diamonds the law school. Though there are students and rubies. Nor does the budget reveal the on a lot of the committees that oversee biring of private jets for weekend jaunts to financial aid decisions and other such matCosta Rica. ters, few if any of those students are For those of you that haven't been pay- directly accountable to the wider student ing attention, "transparency" is the new body. Who knows what they do in those buzzword bere at U ofT law. But there are meetings? For all we know tbey just sit varying degrees of transparency. This bud- around eating sushi and edamame beans, get is what one might refer to as "mildly arguing about whether to buy donuts or transparent." Unfortunately it doesn't tell bagels for the next student function. Heck, us much of anything. Should we be that's wbat happens at UV meetings. shocked and appalled that the scbool spent So while we applaud the Dean and the $415,441 on "Publications & External administration for providing the larger stuRelations"? Who knows? dent body with some small insight into the You get the sense that a good part of the fiscal goings on at the school, why not go student body could care less about where that one step further and provide even their tuition dollars go. And at least in pregreater transparency?

Is anything not sponsored? job; I was ready to try and bold fast against

BY BEN REENTOVICH

I'm not naive: I had an idea of what I was getting into when I decided to go to U ofT Law. Its reputation for breeding corporate lawyers is well known; it also has the reputatioo for being the best law school in Canada. Even if your goal is something other than Bay Street, why should you settle for less than the best?

You shouldn't. Instead, you walk in with your ideals, ready to defend them if need be, take a deep breath, and hope you make it out unscathed, or at least somewhat resembling the fresh-faced first year that first walked in with dreams of making an impact. I knew I was entering an environment where a lot of people were going to equate success with a high paying firm

the tide.

What I wasn't ready for was how omnipresent the national firms seem to be in our law school. Is there anything that is not touched by the finger of corporate sponsorship?

From the activities of Orientation Week, to the Grand Moot, to the pages of this very newspaper, calling up Bay Street seems to be the answer to most problems. Want to organize a meeting? Why not get sponsored and get some good food I Nobody is getting hurt, right?

That is the attitude that confounds me the most; that all that sponsorship really has little impact. But is it really reasonable to believe that these firms are spending CONTINUEO ON P. 11

ultra vires Ultra Vires is the independent student newspaper of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.

Editor-in-Chief Associate Editor News Opinion and Editorial Legal Issues Features Diversions Production Editor Production Assistant Copy Editor Business Manager

John Norquay Jonathan Desbarats Andrew PiJJiar, Keir Wilmut KeirWilmut Lisa Cavion Adrian Liu Lisa Minuk Laura Bowman Heather Giarmandrea Ian Disend Lisa Cavion

Communications Centre, Falconer Hall 84 Queen's Park Crescent, Toronto ON M5S 2C5 ultra.vires@utoronto.ca (416) 946-7684

In the last edition of Ultra Vires, I gave my unsolicited advice about the heinous locker situation plaguing our school. Don't worry though, I'm not bitter. I quite like sharing 4 cubic feet in a room that I have affectionately dubbed "The Swearbox". If you don't know which one that iS1do yourself a favour and take a walk through the basement. You'll know you've found the room when sweat instantly beads on your forehead and you see a large pipe that reads "Caution - Very Hot. Do not touch."

But that's enough about lockers. I've got a new problem: that malnourished food kiosk in Flavelle we like to call The Grounds of Appeal. Well I'm launching an appeal of my own.

The space: Have you ever noticed that the entire kiosk can fit no mnre than 4 people at once? Now, in fairness to the people who designed this space, their mandate did include a slushy machine that is only used in the summer months. I think the kiosk needs to follow 7-11 's lead and go yearround with the slushies. I know people often don't like cold drinks in the winter, but maybe we can all hang out in the tropical zone known as my locker room.

Food and Drink: Given that waiting in line at this place is pretty much the most painful thing a person can do, one might question the choices at the kiosk. Perhaps specialty coffees aren't the most feasible option for a store the size of a hamster cage. Don't get me wrong. I love waiting five minutes while the person in front of me orders a French Vanilla Mochaccino, when all I want is a bottle of water that is strangely warm, even though it just came out of the fridge.

Oh, maybe that's because the fridge has no doors. Hey, I've got an idea-why don't we take a big leap into reality and create a cooling unit that actually cools things?

And then there are the times that I want

OPINION & EDITORIAL

19 OCTOBER 2004

The question: to law or not to law Forced bridge week paper Informed decisions require greater access to information selection irks first years

BY NOAH GELLNER

a full meal. Hmmm ... let's see, sbould I have the, mayonnaise, er, macaroni salad, month old biscotti aod a $ 4.00 cup ofvegetables? No, I think I'll go for the beef patty followed by a hand-packaged bag of com nuts. Forget it, I'll just have a tuna sandwich and a cherry blossom. Speaking of which-who actually bought those?

Nobody buys cherry blossoms. Maybe it's because they taste terrible.

And finally, the name: Rumour has it that the powers that be had the chance to name this place Stare Delicious. I challenge you to find someone who doesn't laugh at that. How could such a work of art lose to Grounds of Appeal?

In fact, I suggest Ultra Vires launch a kiosk naming contest. Here are a couple of other suggestions: The Charter of Eats and Freedoms, Res Ipsa Lunch Eater. Now that I've got the ball rolling, you try.

My advice: Gut the space and have the line-up flow into the lobby where the microwave currently sits. Admittedly, I will miss being

able to enter and exit through the window, but I think I can deal.

Turn the kiosk into a Tim Horton's. I defy you to find someone (other than the gluten intolerant) who doesn't love a bread bowl in the dead of winter. If people want special coffee, they can find their way to the Second Cup a block away.

Keep the incredibly friendly staff. I've Dever met a lovelier group of people in a crappier space. And to the ladies: good luck with your current drive for union certification. Marriott workers of the world unite!

The OCI process is, by its nature, stressful and exhausting. Higher tuition worsens this situation by raising the personal stakes for students. Those who support increased tuition argue that since students receive the majority of the benefit from a legal education, fairness dictates that they should pay the majority of the cost.

Assuming that this is indeed the case, it is nonetheless clear that information crucial to making an informed decision about whether or not to attend law school is at present unavailable at the University of Toronto. Specifically, there is almost no data available to current and potential students as to the expected returns from a legal career. Overall legal employment trends are available on Quicklaw in their National Articling Database and Survey, but this does not provide school-specific information.

The move toward an American-style tuition model requires similar moves in the areas of employment data collection and reporting. At a minimum, the information necessary for making an informed choice would be average starting salary, median starting salary, articJing hire-back rates, total placement percentages, and preference. Region and sector of employment would provide additional information.

Salary figures must be reported

both as an

average and as a median in order to correct for upward

bias resulting from students who work in the United States or on Bay

Street.

Optimal salary reporting would indicate the percentages of students falling in each

of a number of salary bands cross-referBY DANIELLE MARKS enced with date indicating preference, region, and sector. ArticJing hire-back If you are in your first year, you may have numbers are significant since a starting wondered why second and third year stusalary is ohviously less valuable if it doesdents cannot sympathize with the stress n't extend beyond the first year nf graduayou experienced over the "first year long tion. Preference numbers show whether a bridge paper selection form". While one student's placement was her J st, 2nd, 3rd, explanation is that upper years may have or nth choice. Region and sector infonna- ~ been too involved with OCls or graduation tion is self-explanatory. Access to this plans to notice, another is that they have information would allow a prospective never seen the form: this is the first year student to calculate their expected return that students have had to choose in on a legal education and weigh this against advance the bridge week in which to write the actual cost. their long paper.

It is easy to imagine both practical and In past years, students were able to theoretical concerns being raised against engage with the bridge week topics before an increase in the transparency of career deciding wbether to write a shorter report outcomes. The main practical concern is on their perspectives, or to research their likely to be that the data is not being colideas further in a longer paper. This was lected and is therefore not available. beneficial to students because it allowed However, with only a few hundred stuthem to familiarize themselves with the dents graduating each year, surely it issues and readings, decide whether they would not be difficult to remedy this had a critical or unique perspective, and problem; it seems likely that graduates consider whether they could complete a would be happy to provide the data as a long paper alongside their other obligaservice to future students. Indeed, I sugtions, before deciding which length to gest that if the Faculty does not deem the write. collection of this information important, When questioned about the change in a student-run initiative should be considpolicy, Associate Dean Lome Sossin outered. lined some problems with the old . Some might suggest tbat a detailed approach from the administrative perspecfocus on financial outcomes is at odds tive. He argued that it led to an unequal with the academic nature of the law distribution of resources and a less-thanschool. However, this position becomes

increasingly untenable as tuition costs their march upwards. Students cannot afford to be too high minded as their debt load increases.

We need information on what we are buying with our legal education. continue

Stinchcombe is: Sarah Horan. Alex MacMillan, Genny Mclnnes, and Lee Waxberg.

Contributors Ben Arkin, Hilary Book, Todd Chernecki, Angela Chu, Nadine Dechausay, Oliver DeGeest, Ian Disend, Chris Essert, Noah Gellner, Kiran Gill, Mathew Goldstein, Ingrid Grant, Julia Guaragoa, Nadine Harris, Sarah Horan, Patrick Houssais, Jenn Jamieson, Malcolm Katz, Dave Khan, Gave Lindo, Alex MacMiJJan, DamieJJeMarks, Genny McInnes, Caroline Meyer, GeoffMoysa, Ben Reentovich, Tariq Remtulla, Nicole Richmond, Meghan Riley, Dave Seevaratnam, Christine Shalaby, Adam Ship, Juda Strawczynski, Oscar Strawczynski, Lee Waxberg, Zimra Yetnikoff, Saba Zarghami Ultra Vires is an editorially autonomous newspaper. We are open to contributions which reflect diverse points of view, and our contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the Faculty of Law, the Students' Law Society (SLS), or the editorial board.

We welcome contributions from students, faculty, and other interested persons.

Ultra Vires reserves the right to edit submissions for length and content.

Advertising inquiries should be sent to the attention of the business manager at ultra.vires@utoronto.ca.

The next issue will be published on November 23, 2004.

The deadline for submissions is November 15.

Submission limit: 850 words.

11

Firm sponsorship rampant thousands on clever advertising, and sponsorships of tons of events (anyone else planning on going to law games for like $300) without thinking that they are getting something in return?

I'm amazed by the number of first years I've spoken with who truly believe that all that corporate spending really has no influence on them; the prevalent attitude seems to be that we all are adults who can make our own decisions. Come on. Can you really believe that the multimillion dollar advertising industry doesn't work here just because you did well on the LSAT?

continued from p,10

The influence is there, it just isn't so explicit that we can all point to it and shake our fingers in disappointment. Yes, it used to be worse. There used to be a boat cruise during orientation week where lawyers would join the new class, business cards in hand, and try and recruit right from the getgo. They put a stop to that, but does that really mean that is where it stops?

It isn't like we are exactly in good bargaining positions. Most of us are taking on unprecedented debt loads, and the University isn't exactly being helpful with fmancial aid policies that are rigid and unsympathetic, and a back-end relief poIi-

ideal level of engagement by students with

that the old approach raised coocerns about student engagement, it is not clear how the new approach will change the level of involvement. He argues, "I believe that a system which is fairly administered, balances student preferences with institutional values and is designed to enrich student eogagement with all three bridges will constitute a significant improvement to the first year program and the first year experience." Yet, from a student perspective, wouldn't yon be less motivated to "engage" with a bridge topic if you had been assigned to write your long paper in another week?

How are students to know, after only three weeks of legal education, which topic would most interest them? The topics for the bridge weeks were listed on the selection form as: "From Bijuralism to Legal Pluralism," "Legal Ethics," and "Law and Development". Most first years do not even know what "bijuralism" or. "legal pluralism" means, let alone know enough about the topic to decide they want to write a twelve page paper on it.

Students were instructed to rank these topics in the order of their preference.

There was a disclaimer at the bottom of the form that read: "Please note that you are not guaranteed your first choice." In the recent email regarding the assignment of students to long papers, tbis llO\ut ,"S em~has\:l.ed w\.\b. a UQ\e \\-\'a.\ Tcads u\l'\ease note that these assignments are final and

the topics. He explained thaI last year approximately 105 of the 180 students wrote their long paper during the second bridge week, and that this was "ill-advised on pedagogic grounds."

Yet, if the large majority wrote their papers during the second bridge week, at least one ofthree things is implied: that students felt more confident after the second bridge week thao the first to thorougWy engage with a topic in a long paper; that the second bridge week fell at a time in the semester when students felt that they had sufficient time to devote to an in-depth analysis of an issue; or that the second bridge was a topic that interested most of the students. As such, even if the old approach led to some faculty members spending more time grading papers than others, shouldn't the students' interests and education lake precedence? It seems $16,000 per year doesn't buy what it used to.

Though Associate Dean Sossin suggests

. cannot be changed ." This means that a student who, after a week of lectures and readings, feels she has no meaningful opinion about ber assigned topic will bave no choice but to write a 12 page paper that constitutes 100% of her mark for the course.

This policy could have been implemented in a way that better respected students' interests. There should have been a detailed explanation of what each bridge week involved, and an appeals process through which a student could get their assignment changed. Undoubtedly this new policy is more convenient for the administration. However, this small bit of convenience for the people marking the papers comes at the cost of a reduced educational experience for those writing them. Is this the proper order of priorities for a law school with world-class ambitions?

cy that is laughable at best (1 don't think I could even find a job tbat used my legal education and paid less than 40k a year; the cut off for full deht relief post-graduation). We are easy prey for firms that need fresb blood to bill 2,000 hours a year to improve their bottom line.

Okay, I'm obviously worried that my only option coming out will be a corporate job, which is fine if that is your choice, but I don't like it heing the loudest voice.

If you work for any kind of organization that depends on funding, you are very conscious of the source for your funds because the amount of influence that can be exerted is enormous. If we are to depend on external funding, then we need to be careful.

I understand that without corporate

sponsorship many extracurricular activities wouldn't be possible, or only would be at a prohibitive cost, and so the answer is not a complete rejection of funding.

However, the administration needs to set some clear guidelines as to how much corporate sponsorship is allowed, by firm and in total. If these guidelines do exist then the administration needs to do a better job of letting the student body know ahout them; they need to impress upon us that they recognize that indepeodence is am issue, and that choice is a concern, and that they are taking steps to keep it in check.

We need to wean ourselves off the corporate teat and learn to do things for ourselves. Other programs find funding for things in other ways-we can too.

INTERVIEW WITH THE DEAN

12

ing to that crunch where you have to decide what you're going to do, what area of law you're going to get into. And having that financial pressure there--<Jo you think it affects people, realistically, in the decisions they make?

RD: I think, to start, that even before people come to law school, they face financial pressures, and those pressures at going through the law school without any financial assistance whatsoever, those pressures are bound to increase in intensity. But again, what's very important is that you have to take a look at the percentage of students in the school who are receiving some level of financial aid. And for the students who are coming from backgrounds where they have the greatest financial need, that this is a highly progressive program.

There are 40 students each year who are attending law school tuition free. That's just on the basis of the allocations we make, but a lot of those students in addition have financial aid and sources from beyond the law school. So I think the first thing is that there are a group of students who are coming to the law school with far less financial pressure than students in their circumstances have ever faced in the past.

Back from a year away, Dean Daniels sat down for a chat with Ultra Vires.

U~

While you were away, there were some protests â&#x20AC;˘ as you probably know around tuition, I'm sure â&#x20AC;˘ you heard about that. That still seems to be' a hot-button issue. I'm just wondeling if you're still convinced that the track that we're on is the right one. â&#x20AC;˘

RD: The whole issue of tuition, particularly in a countf'{ liKe Canada, is always bound to be controversia\. And so I've always taKen the view that one has to proceed vel}' carefully with the whole issue of tuition increases and start off first and foremost with making sure that the students have confidence and faith in the way you are going to use tuition revenue.

It's a question in the first instance of being able to justify that tuition increases can be transiated into demonstrable program improvements.

As you know we spent a lot of time working with students and other stakeholders a few years ago trying to sharpen our plans and to really get a good sense of where the faculty is going and how its program can be improved.

So from that perspective, I think one way to address the controversy is to have a starting point where you're making your best efforts to really put investment in places where it can really make a difference.

UV: Do you think students are buying that?

RD: I don't have a sense of the student mace around this issue having been away for a year, but I think that there is always going to be some element of the student bOCy that is understandably apprehensive and skeptical of tuition increases and the impact that it has on accessibility, and so I'm not going to "gild the lily" on this and assume that we've reached some magic moment here when all dissent and concern has been quelled. Having said that, I think that there seems to me to be a large segment of the student body who would take the view that they are open-minded about this, that the proof very much will be in the way in which the law school goes about discharging its various responsibilities that are very explicit now, and to which we are accountable to the broader Faculty community. And there is no mistake about what the Faculty has to do here in order to be able to continue to increase tuition fees-we have to be able to demon-

strate that there is no impairment of the school's accessibility. If you ask me am I confident that we are not seeing impairment of the school's accessibility, my answer would be thai we are not, and that we worry an awful lot about it ... So, you know, again, I don't want to minimize the intensity of the concerns that a lot of people feel and I should say that's not just confined to the student body, that's on the faculty side as well.

U\I: 'leah, iI's a divisive-Ihing tor Ihe lacultyRD: Well, you know "divisive" isn't the way I would describe it. I think that no faculty member, myself included, wants to be a member of a scholarly community when the most meritorious students aren't represented in that community. That's a really hollow victory. So to say that you've been able to cobble together a firstrate program where you have outstanding faculty, outstanding faCUlty/student ratios, outstanding curricular and extra-curricular programs, outstanding library, outstanding and innovative academic programs but you have a student body that has deteriorated and is not the very best in the country, and among the best institutions in the world, then I think you've really undermined the promise of the school, so no one wants to see us go down that route.

I'm not going to "gild the lily" on this and assume that we've reached some magic moment here when all dissent and concern has been quelled, UV: The reason I use the word "divisive" is because it seems to be common knowledge that there are some tensions on the faculty, you hear that some faculty members don't talk to other ones, you hear these things, and so I guess that's why i say divisive.

RD: I guess, you know, I'm surprised that's out there, because I actually don't see this as a divided faculty; I think what really is striking about the faculty and what has always been stliking about the faculty is how collegial it is

and there is no single faculty member that I'm aware of that is not talking to another faculty member and I just don't think the differences, whether it's on tuition policy, and whether it's on curriculum reform, and whether it's on hiling priorities, this is the nature of an academic community, there are bound to be differences, but I think It's important that people not overstate the importance of these differences.

U\I: 'Iou lalKed about Ihe quality of students U 01 T is attracting. \ as~ed a few firms their thoughts on the tuition increase and they said in the past few years they found themseives recruiting and hiring more at other law schools because what they see as a movement of some top students to avoid U of T due to the high tuition. Does this concern you?

RD: It puzzles me because it doesn't comport with any of the data that we have, we do watch our placement rates very, very closely-the school's placement rates are the best in the system by a wide margin, and we watch very closely on the composition of the class on a number of different dimensions and as I said before, we have not seen any change in terms of the character of that class. So, do people like tuition increases, do students like tuition increases ... does the profession like tuition increases and the answer is at one level of course they don't. But when you couple that with the kind of program we're providing ... if you ask people do you like tuition increases people will say "no." But do you like having a well-funded poverty law clinic, like we do now that is taking substantial support from the school? Do you like to have a library that is well-funded and isn't suffering significant funding cuts and able to keep the quality of its professional staff and it's acquisitions? Do you like to have an international human rights program with all the placements and opportunities that that opens up? The list could go on and on.

UV: When you are trying to decide whether the effects on the school have been positive or negative, what objective measurements are you using to determine this? You must have some sort of barometer of success or failure.

RD: You look at the character of the class in terms of its composition, you're looking at the

socio-economic

data-and

13 or not, and how they're meeting expectations.

And for as long as I have been Dean, the understanding is that almost halt of the pertormance assessment is based on feedback from students. Those evaluations that students do in every course are compiled and analyzed by me and my staff. I read every evaluation. I read the backs of the evaluations to get a qualitative sense of how Iaculty are doing and we're very sensitive to how faculty members are contributing to the program This is not a research institute. It is a university that provides a teaching program and as a consequence one has to be very sensitive to whether or not students feel they're being well served in their classes, and if not it is my job to provide some constructive advice and support to colleagues so they can meet those expectations more effectively. It is a big part of the annual assessment process and factors clearly into all compensation decisions that are made by the university.

UV: One of the things that I was most struck by as a first year last year was the barrage of crit-

was a proposal to move Falconer. What are the details?

RD: We are looking at a number of different options. Different challenges have emerged at different stages of the Faculty's life. Over the last ten years I've really focused a lot on the quality at the program, and in some sense ensuring that the right faculty and students are here. So that meant spending a lot of time trying to increase the size of the faculty and increase the size and character of the program offering and also spending a lot of time [thinking] about financial aid and accessibility. And now we are in the very happy position at having in some sense been successful on so many of these fronts in terms of the program and number of people we have attracted to the Faculty that we have a new problem, that we simply don't have the physical space to accommodate them.

These two buildings were not designed to accommodate a professoriate of 50 faculty members and the growfh of staff we have seen in some of the different areas as well as the

getting from incoming financial aid applications and that's a very good bellwether for seeing what's happening in terms of what kinds of people are applying to the class.

We're seeing it in terms of just the raw entry scores of the student body this year. There was a modest improvement in both GPA and LSAT scores. it's reflected in the percentage of minority students that are attending the Faculty.

What's more, we are really attentive to the

Those evaluations that students do in every course are compiled and analyzed by me and my staff. I read every evaluation. issue of when students who are admitted by us turn us down, where do they go? And again, what continues to be so striking, is that by and large, the most significant number of students that turn us down are going to institutions in the States and doing it without significant levels of financial aid. So, I think there is a growing sense at least on the part of the people who are interested in the school of seeing this as a very irrportant investment that they are going to make in their future. And again, you know, I would hope, and indeed do my best to instill in students that you don't regard the return to that investment solely as being about increased earning power, but I think that people are increasingly looking at a university education as an opportunity to enhance their intellectual capabilities, enhance their professional opportunities, and that's I think, a very valuable, important calculus to go through.

UV: I wanted to ask you about that idea that education shouldn't be about earning power, that it shouldn't be aboutRD: A straight financial investment.

UV: Yeah. Because I've heard you say that before, I remember you said that in our (first year orientation). And one of the things that I think a lot of students find really difficult is com-

UV: One of the main justifications for the tuition increase was that we needed to keep our best professors here, and so we needed to be able to match job offers they received from the US. How do you respond to the concern that this encourages professors to spend more time making themselves marketable to the US, at the cost of being a part of the school community and interacting with students? ' RD: Weill thln~ it is important to gel the justification clear, and I think by doing that it may answer your question. We sought to be able to have the resources to be able to compress, but not eradicate, the gap that had opened up between our law schools salaries and those being offered by institutions in the US, in an effort to deter faculty members from spending a lot of time trying to solicit offers from American institutions in order to be able to increase their salaries by going south.

I think the budget I released this past week demonstrates that the single most important expenditure that the Faculty has made has been erasure of budget cuts that have come from senate at university as a consequence of diminished public funding of higher education.

To the extent that we also said one of the things we wanted to do was to make sure that faculty didn't feel that U at T was a great place to start their career but not a great place to finish one, then I think we have been able to make some headway on that issue. Are our faculty salaries the same as salaries in the US? Absolutely not. Will they in the near tuture be the same as institutions in the US? The answer is no. But have we bridged the gap a bit? The answer is yes. And I think that as a consequence faculty members are not going to be unduly distracted by the allures of the US. UV: When you make salary determinations for members of the faCUlty, is there any value placed on their interactions with the students and the school community?

RD: Absolutely. Every year I'm required under university policy to make an individualized assessment of every faculty member in the lawschool. That assessment is important in terms of telegraphing the university's sense of whether colleagues are meeting expectations

UV: You are coming to the end of your tenure.

There is speculation that you might want move onto the U of T president's job that is up for grabs in a year. There is also speculation you might go to the private sector. What are your plans for the future?

ORO: Well, I'm not at the end of my tenure. I still have three years to go. I feel so lUCky to be back here, and am very, very excited to be back and to be able to finish off what we started 10 years ago. Right now I am not iooking anywhere else, and I hope thaf people get a sense of that in terms of the agenda that we have taken to the Faculty Council this year.

There is a lot for us to do, and I think the last thing you would want is for me or other members of the administration to be distracted with thinking about things that aren't of great interest or importance to the Faculty and community, and we're not.

UV: So can I take that as a no, that you are not a candidate for the U of T President's job?

we have good

socio-economrc data: of course that we're

and move it closer to Flavelle, so we would have the benefit of not only having the building site that is not as complicated as building on Laskin library but it would also allow us to draw the two buildings closer together.

ORO: You can take it as a strong statement that i love my job, I am very happy, and I am working hard on your behaif.

UV: Last year you were appointed to the board of oirectors of CanWest Global. How did that come about, what does that sort of position entail, and whal demands does it put on ~our \\me?

Facilities expansion plans may see Falconer Hall moved closer to Flavelle. icism that you came under from third years. Is this something that you are trying to address, perhaps by trying to explain a little more why you made some of the decisions that you made?

demand for new teaching spaces and student spaces that we really need to sort out. Again, on the student side when I was a student there was one law review. Now we are looking at a number of different law reviews. Ideally every one of those student journals would have their own office space. We can't do that now.

RD: I wasn't aware of the "barrage of criticism," so this is something that I'll have to take your word for. I think simply that it is never easy to UV: I have to ask-does that include Ultra lead an institution in a time. of significant Vires? change, and there has been a lot of change at this institution. But havinq said that, I think that ORO: Of course it does. The very best space in a lot of these changes are for the better. This is the law school tor the law school students will a much stronger institution than it was fifteen to of course be devoted to the newspaper of twenty years ago. I think the program we offer record. our students is ultimately one that provides There are a number of different things we them with better education, better training, and might do. We looked at the possibility of buildbetter experience for the kinds at leadership ing on top of the Laskin library, but that is a difpositions that I hope they will take to this conficult project because both the cost and the distrary and the world beyond. location that it would entail. You'd have to have That there has been debate, and discusthat building site shut down for at least a year, sion, and some moments of tension along the perhaps two, which is a real problem. We've way in terms of developing this program, that is thought about trying to add on behind the the character of life in an academic community.

Laskin library where the moot court is, but that I think what is important though is that people is a very constrained site. So we're thinking are able to stand back from these debates and . now of the possibility of working on the look at what we have achieved collectiveiy, and Falconer footprint, and the idea is that maybe, I hope that people feel good about that. because the Faculfy of Music is interested in having direct access to Queen's Park, the posUV: At the last faCUlty council meeting there sibility might be to retain the fa98de of Falconer

ORO: I sit on the Can West board of directors, which as you know is a public company. Ihave about four board meetings a year. This is a responsibility I take very seliously but in terms of the amount of time I spend on the job it is something that in no way constitutes a distraction from my responsibilities here. There are a number of things I do outside the Faculty. Over this past year I have spent a lot of time doing the public policy review for the provincial government on the future of government and reforms that I believe are appropliate and necessary in a number of different public policy area. I always test these sort of outside engagements on the following basis: do they complement or subvert my role and responsibility to the faculty? It is only if they complement that I'll do them. If they don't I don't do them.

There are lots of times that people have asked me to do things that I have said no to because I see that the time commitment is too large retative to the responsibilities that I have here, or I can't see enough payoff for what it means to my leadership at the faculty.

UV: Any closing words for the students?

ORO: Nothing other than I have come back, and having spent the last year looking at a number of different institutions and being part of a fabulous intellectual community south of the border it is great to be home and I really do look forward to finishing up my term and working to implement the shared vision of what this place can and should be. I hope in this interview you are able to convey some sense of the excitement and passion I feel for this place, because I think we are at a great juncture.

There is more work that needs to be done but I think this is a great opportunity for us to work to advance the faculty's mission.

~ I

OPINION & EDITORIAL

14

ULTRA VIRES

Public health care subsidizes Bay Street lawyers

BY MALCOLM KAlZ The ten-year, 41 billion dollar deal between tbe federal and provincial governments to "fix" health care, announced by Paul Martin this past September, raised an important question: Why? Why does tbe Canadian population continue to rank. health care as its number ODe priority (prompting the politicians to seek to "fix" an irretrievably broken system every couple of years)?

Let's pretend for the sake of this article that tbere are no problems with the Canadian bealtb system. Let's pretend tbat our hospitals do not have essential equipment shortages, and that the equipment tbey do bave is not aging and already out of date. Let's pretend that bealth care costs are not exploding at unsustainable rates and that we do not have an aging population with ever-increasing demands. Let's pretend that our bealth system is not inefficient, ranking in double digits in terms of quality of health services provided (compared to otber countries in the world) despite being third in money spent, and that it does not bave all the waste one would expect to fmd in a government-run monopoly. Let's pretend tbat the average waiting time from referral to treatment is not four months, and that it does not typically take three montbs tn get an MR!.

Even if we can pretend all this (wbich stretches the hounds of imagination, I know), the question of why remains.

Why is health care such a priority? Why are we willing, here in Ontario, to spend one third of the entire provincial budget on it (forgetting, for a moment, tbe billions mnre from the federal government)? One would think that this would seem to be a rather obvious question given the resources spent. It is, however, rarely raised. The implication of this societal lack of curiosity seems to be something like: What is not important about health care? It translates into life, doesn't it? Where would we be without our universal system? We would be downright American or sometbing.

cause,

in many

circles,

for social

SLSApathy scorn.

Worse, publicly it translates into political death, with the result that politicians, even from scary Alberta, are loathe to claim support

for such ideas, and accusations

of

such support, as part of a "hidden agenda," have enabled the Natural Ruling Party of Canada to return to power in the past two elections, despite corruption and scandal.

We are Canadian after all. We are sensitive

and caring. We are all equally able to access the lack of health services available. In this sense, our universal health care system, oxymoronic as it has become, touches the very essence of what it means to be Canadian: we are content with our

mediocrity so long as we are all equally

Our universal health care system ... touches the very essence of what it means to be Canadian: we are content with our mediocrity so long as we are equally mediocre.

The very thought of two-tier care, with a private

system running

health along-

side a puhlic one (or full privatization for that matter), is outright heresy and as such 1S condemned. Suggesting it privately is

mediocre.

We are certainly

not American.

I would be satisfied with this if it was not for one annoying fact: Depending on the estimates used, 50% to 80% of one's lifetime health costs are spent in the last six months

prior

to death.

In

essence,

Ontario is spending one third of its entire budget, projected to rise to one half in the next ten years as the population ages, on extending one's life by six months.

Sounds great. We all want to hang on to that bitter, angry end; rage, rage against the dying of the light and all that good stuff. Last time I checked, though, the average life expectancy was closing in on 80 years. What about the other 79.5 years?

Resources are, after all, limited. If we are spending one half of our provincial hudget on health care, what does that leave for education for our children (or, to be perfectly selfish, for us-did anyone else

notice the $17,000 in tuition?), what does that leave for the infrastructures of our cities, which are perennially

near collapse,

what does that leave for... well, everything else. In law school, I have learned lots of wonderful things about the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments. Do we really want the provincial

sphere

of influence,

whether

sovereign from the federal or not, reduced to being that of one large (poorly run) healtb insurance company? And why exactly do we need to subsidize the health care costs of corporate

lawyers making

six

digits a year on Bay Street?

If we are going to rank health eare as our number

one priority,

as the polls con-

tinually tell us we do, are tbese not questions we should be asking? Then again, why bother? I mean, at least we are not American.

Submit to Ultra Vires!

Submissions to UV are welcome and have a 400850 word limit per article.

Submissions for the next issue are due November 15 Contact Ultra Vires section editors for more information ultra.vires@utoronto.ca (416) 946-7684

This week I was highly privileged to be one nf approximately twenty students to attend the SLS Town Hall in the pres-

tigious Bennett Lecture Hall. I did not realize at the time that this was such a rare opportunity. My impression was that this eventwas open to all students, with pizza and ideas flying all around. But no, this was not the case at all. In actual fact it was a top secret meeting in which the twenty students present (of whom ten spoke) out of a student body of SOD-plus students were allowed to set the agenda for the SLS for this entire academic year.

Although I am not genera1ly one to turn down ~ opportunity to he a totalitarian trend-setter; this situation simply seemed

pathetic, J left the meeting feeling depressed and Ihave narrowed down the cause to two primaryfaetors: the SLS's alarming

failure to address their shattered relationship with the student bodj, 'and the even more alarming apathy of my fellow stu" dents. I will not blame the of the Town Hal! entirely on the Sl.Se--bur I do think that's where most of the responsibility lies. The event Was poorly advertised,wiljIa text heavy, plain white paper flyer ttdvertising it a few days in advance (theonly copy of which I saw in the boiler room}---and there was one notice in Headnotes, It amazes me that the SLS

fuilure

~es

an

e

t<e

,

when it comes to tlte publIC fbrom of the year. their marketing skills suddenly slide down the drain. Furthermore, I cannor believe that anyone on the SLS actually thinks that this Town Hall represented the wide spectrum "flaw students' voices. If there is, as Isuspect there must

be, some-awareness of

the communica-

tion failures here, the SLS shouldand in fact must, hold the event again. And this time, scream from the rooftops that it is happening, Use the nice pink and blue paper to advertise the town hall, instead of doughnut madness, and advertise in Headnotes three weeks in advance.

Speak to other students. get the wold out, hold a hoothat Bora's Head for a week encouraging students t.o participate.

Fight the apathy! And above all, refuse to accept an agenda set by ten students. As fot my feUowstudents, pay attention to your student society, and hold them accowjtable. We aU have CODeems, we all have anger against some aspect of this facultytadministrationlstudentbocly--and this is your opportunity to voiceit, llr at Ieast stand in solidarity willi tllIIerswho ate taking that illitiative.

We are not simply here to survive first yem; secIlIee ~ m. second year, and ~ througIl ibird 1ea& We are here t.o _ what !t _ to be lllawyel', and II laW inflli)SIll!llllDimls where -we _ and see ~whatit mstlldent.

. 1ili:Wty, we

_we

the

15

JD Program Guide: glossing over visible minority representation?

Every year, the Faculty of Law publishes a "JD Program Guide" promoting itself to prospective studenls. This year. the brochure came in the form of a glossy, 44-page magazine featuring full-colour photos of professors, enthusiastic quotes from students, and an extensive description of the International Human Rights Program.

Over the summer there was a photo shoot at the law school, and the new guide is characterized by full-page shots of smiling law students, in contrast to the high volume of text in prior years. Of the nine students in these Clearly, the law school is intending to present an image of itself as being a "diverse", "accommodating" and "accepting" environment. One stream of opinion will contend that this PR attempt is a good thing since it will encourage more minority students to apply to the law faculty, and thus increase minority enrollments.

However, the other stream of opinion is accurate to say that this "image" is empirically inaccurate.

The number of students of colour represented in the publication guide, versus their actual representation in the law faculty is grossly overstated.

However, if this recruiting guide attracts more students of colour to apply to U of T, then perhaps the end justifies the means. As long as this approach is one of many recruitment techniques to attracting bright students of colour, then the means are justified.

On a similar note however, if one closely examines the recruitment guides for many law schools in Canada and the United States, they will quickly

D1

OPINION & EDITORIAL

19 OCTOBER 2004

see that recruitment

guides will often

over-represent the proportion of students of colour at their respective schools. However, at least U ofT has enough actual students of colour that they do not have to continually re-use the pictures of one or two minority students repeatedly in the same recruitment guide (unlike several other Ontario law schools).

- Gave Lindo

shots. seven are people of colour According to the admissions office 31 per cent of the 2003-04 entenng class consisted of peopte of colour and Aboriginal students-Ihe 2004-05 class is at 29 per cent. This statistic IS included on page 13 01 guide in the class profile.

You can find a copy of the Program Guide in the admissions office, or online al http://www.law.utoronto.ca/ documents/JD/JD _program _guide.pdf.

We asked students to tell us what they thought of the Program Guide.

Here is what they had to say.

forward to going to the school because there are so many pretty black girls who go there (i.e.

Abby on the cover and Odette). I laughed and told IUm that Odette and Abby representabout 30 per cent of the black female student population in the entire school. This just goes to show that although the guide is silent about the number of black students who actually attend, the pictures are providing the foundation to make the logical inference that the school has not grabbed every of their guide and that there is, in fact, a decent sized group of black people that attend U of T

white and there shouldn't be a problem with saying that. But if you're using pictures of minority

Law. Frankly,the burden that is shifted to the small

students to recruit, it should be reflected in the incoming class.

- Saba Zarghami

group of minority students who are committed to doing outreach is disheartening. I love being involved in trying to make things better, but when the school just denies or obfuscates the problem, it gets on my nerves. It's tiring to put on an optimistic face for potential students when the systemic problems are not being addressed. [

Faculty's commitmentto makingthe school, and the law community at large, more inclusive? The historical under-inclusiveness of the profession and cynicism about its future mean that certain potential candidates may need a bit of encouragement when thinking about entering. Besides, given tbat the profile statistics are printed in the guide and are readily available in more detail to anyone to whom the issue is important, I don't think the gUideis misleading. In the end, regardless of the actual nwnbers, I would feel uncomfortable about attending a school where the recruitment materials contained only white faces. ....Jenn Jamieson The overrepresentation of visible minority students is blatantly obvious, and paints a picture of an institution that is desperate to portray itself as

By having a disproportionate number of students of colour in their Program Guide, 1 think the Faculty is misrepresenting the level of diversity

at the law school.Certainly,the Facultyshouldbe commended for their efforts in trying to increase

the number of visible minorities-e-especially in light of the tuition increases, which many would argue affect students from these backgrounds more than other students. However, trying to convince students to choose U of T over other schools by indirectly claiming there is more diversity than there really is, is unacceptable.

In fact, while U ofT does collect information on the number of students who are visible minorities in any given class, I would say they ethnically diverse. While there is something need to go further. Why don't they collect more noble about the law school trying to reach out to information which would help them determine if potential minority applicants, its methods seem a law school is becoming more accessible for those little disingenuous. As a visible minority student, who are from groups who have traditionally been I even feel a little insulted by this clumsy attempt underrepresented? For example, 1 think it would at pandering. I'd like to think that J was selected be useful for the Faculty to determine what perfor this law school on my academic and personal centage of students have parents neither of whom merits, just as I'm sure the students in the have a higher education degree. Along the same brochure would like to think that they were cholines, it would be interesting to see what percentsen for their insightful comments and perspecage of law students have a tives-regardless of ethnicity. The faculty's obvi"connection" to the legal ous paranoia regarding this issue may have us all profession-as in, someone thinking twice. in their immediate family is - Dave Seevaratnam a lawyer. Iwas surprised to hear when I came to law It's a classic "rock and a hard place" scenario. school that so many students As bad as it is to use images of minority students have mothers, father, brothin such a cynical way, misrepresenting the diverers, sisters, or brothers who sity aftbe class to promote ourselves, it would be are lawyers. far worse to not make any effort to reach out to a If the law school is comdiverse audience and encourage them to apply. mitted to diversity and Now, can we talk about the fact that 10 out of 1L ensuring access to the legal students who provided quotes were from "have" profession for those who provinces, and not one was from east of Ontario? have been traditionally - ingrid Grant underrepresented, then they need to dig deeper to deterI know a black undergraduate student at U of T who is applyingfor September2005 and he got a mine if they are doing what they need to do. program guide and was leafing through it. He - Tariq Remtulla called me and told me that he was really looking

This is the most disingenuous publication the school puts out. Looking at it you'd think everyone at the school's black, brown and beautiful.

Abby appears twice (on the cover and inside the magazine) ... but that's because we only have three black women and we gotta reuse them! Not to detract from the stunning beauty of Abby and Odette, of course, they should be on the cover of lots of magazines. But this is a recruiting tool, and when you only have two or three blacks in the first-year class, to put pictures like this in is disingenuous. Law students are clearly primarily

If the program guide is a first impression of the law school why not attempt to communicate the

est? I know that it would likely have turned me off.

- Christine Shalaby

blackstudentthey possiblycould to fillthe pages

don't mind making things sound rosy if! know that change is on the horizon, but we all know that isn't the case, - Caroline Meyer

I think that although the proportion of minority faces represented on the program guide may not accurately represent the makeup of the law school, the intention is not necessarily to mislead.

Rather, I think it's meant to encourage prospective students who are concerned about entering a racially homogenous environment An enlightening comparison would be to assess the breakdown of students at other law schools in Ontario to see just where U ofT ranks in tenus ofvisible minorities. Besides, would publishing an allwhite program guide be better, even if more hon-

As one of the students featured in the new JD Program Guide, I have mixed emotions about it. I certainly have grave misgivings about the direction of the law school and its culture, particularly with accessibility (related to tuition, bursaries, scholarships) and the increasingly prevalent attitude of superiority and American focus. However, when approached to participate in the Guide, I felt it was sort of my "civic duty" to help out, and although f tried to temper and specify my "endorsement" of the school, it isn't the place to criticize (negative comments obviously wouldn't have been published anyway). As for the majority of the students featured in the Guide being visible minorities like myself, we are a significant percentage of the school population, and while there is certainly room for improvement, I think this "celebration of diversity" will encourage other minorities to apply. I don't think it's necessarily constructive to view this in a cynical light, as a deliberate attempt by the Faculty to "misrepresent" and "paper over" minorities and the valid obstaclesthey face. As to the glossynature of the publication and its lack of more substantive content

(as compared to previous years), this is just a function of the Faculty's conscious move to a more American style of operation and in this context fonn is more important than content. This is

a much larger debate than just this specific Guide.

-Dave Khan It is obvious that the law school is using a particular strategy to attract a more multicultural student body. However, it is a clear misrepresenta-

tion of the state of the current student body, and a misrepresentation, no matter how worthy the cause, remains an inaccuracy and portrays a situation that simply does not exist. Although I applaud the law school's goal of diversifying its constituency, I don't believe they should be using a tool that encourages a false assumption. Such a device encourages tbe assumption that the law school has somehow managed to equalize the playing field, and that no further work on increasing access to the law school for minorities needs to be done. This is far from the truth. Although minority students make up a third of the class, they are still not represented in the members of the faculty or other staff. I think there is a lot of work remaining before the law school should feel comfortable distributing a publication endorsing values that it, itself, has not yet achieved.

- Kiron Gill I cannot believe there is even a controversy about this publication. lt is an exceptional marketing piece that does exactly what a marketing

publicationis supposedto do. It highlights what is unique about U ofT Law school and personalizes the student and faculty so it is easy for potential students to relate to them. ... Nadine Harris

The Program Guide is a nice example of fraudulent misrepresentation. It's a con; an insincere attempt to put a gloss on this law school that is light years away from the truth. I. counted three black students in the guide. This in spite of the

fact that blacks are probably the smallest minority group here. This is not a sign of the law school's hope for the future or its current commitments. It is simply advertising. Telling the consumer (prospective student or donor) that this faculty is so inclusive, and so progressive that it has created a prominent place for an oppressed and embattled group like us (yes,

I'm the other black student that goes here). If this posture was backed up with real support for inclusion such as feeder and recruitment programs to increase access, black and other minority professors on the faculty, and a curriculum that incorporated multiple perspectives, then I might sanction it, But that doesn't

bappen here.

I think the faculty is self-conscinusabout its faults with respect to authentic inclusiveness, which is why the media people went overboard as they did. Awareness of a pmblem is a step

toward a solution-but only if conrageousleaders are willing to be honest with themselves and make substantive institutional changes. My petition to the administration is to see the Program Guide as the mockery that it is, and the

opportunity it could be. The opportunity is to live up to your lies.

- Nadine Dechausay

LEGAL ISSUES

16

ULTRA VIRES

Symbolically and instrumentaly rewarding: a look at Fellowships

.~ â&#x20AC;˘ ..,

cational manuals and appellate facta, working directly on hoth procedural and substantive motions, case reviews, regulatory audits, and even policy reform and development. As far as practical experiences, students often get to work directly with clients, like refugee claimants, yourh offenders, and victims of discrimination.

Some students are able to attend and participate in public boards and inquiries, assist clients at legal hearings, and draft

BY ADAM SHIP legal documentation that will ultimately PUBLICITY COMMITTEE, PBSC EXECUTIVE be used in practice; still others concentrate on providing clients with legal inforComprehensive, socially relevant, trans- mation on niche areas of law. One Fellow, formative, and fascinating: these descripMike Pacholok, was exposed to some of tors capture the experiences of the stu- the most "hands-on" aspects of civil prodents who completed a Pro Bono cedure when he, among other things, preStudents Canada (pBSC) Fellowship last pared, bound, and served court docusummer. The Donner Civic Leadership ments during his placement at Justice for Fund and the June Call wood Program pay Children and Youth. the way for a number of students ("felFellowship opportunities also offer lows") to work directly for communitysymbolic rewards, those that relate to based, public interest organizations in less careerist and tangible concerns. I'm various law-related capacities.

The sure all of us can recall an instance when opportunities are as rewarding-both we got "goose-bumps" in relation to instrumentally and symbolically-as they some important cause or issue, this are diverse. moment when we truly "get it" or truly The Fellowship opportunities offer an appreciate the totality of the idea heing abundance of instrumental rewards, those expressed. It is through such experiences related to "selfish" concerns, such as cur- that we feel a connection to something riculum vitae, experience building, nethigger than ourselves, something socialworking and, of course, direct financial ly or normatively important that is gain. The most important of these relate unconnected to any pecuniary henefit. to the substance of what "fellows" get to This is what the pro bono experience do: Preparation oflegal memoranda, eduoffers, and the fellowship allows students

to spend an entire summer-to completely dedicate and focus the entirety of their efforts-on pro bono work. In reference to his work for the Refugee Law Office of Legal Aid Ontario, for example, John Norquay had the "opportunity to call [my first client] to tell him that he had heen accepted by the Immigration and Refugee Board as a Convention Refugee after my attendance with him at a hearing." It was the phone call, and the figurative "goose-bumps" that so accompanied it, that helped make the experience so emotionally rewarding.

It is easy to close our eyes to the injustice that surrounds us.

The reading and studying of substantive law can never instil a pro bono ethos; it is only through first-hand experience with the salutary effects of such work on disadvantaged persons that this can be achieved.

It is easy to close our eyes to the injustice that surrounds us. During her work at Community Justice Initiatives, Emily Griffith saw first hand the disjunction between the needs of a particular community and the available resources: "It was quite a shock to me to realize how little assistance is available in local communi-

lies for people who have offended." It can be a humbling experience to leave the "gated community" of this University and explore the parts of our society that are in such desperate need of assistance.

Rememher the keynote speech of Neena Gupta duriug PBSC's national launch in September: a small group of people really can make an important difference in building a just society. During his work for the Canadian Civil Liherties Association, Graeme Norton saw pro bono practice in a new light when he observed the efficacy of "achieving progressive social change througb law refnrm." After working directly on police-governance issues, Norton understands more than ever the importance of statutory draftsmanship that clearly expresses the progressive legislative purpose. It is easy to feel like tbe balance of power in our society is fixed or immutable; legal reform, however, can alter and shape this reality in a positive direction.

For more information on the fellowship opportunities administered through PBSC, please visit our "utoronto" website. There will be a seminar on the fellowships on Wednesday October 20 from 12:00 -1:00 pm in Flavelle B, so come check that our. Expectations should be replaced with dedicated aspirations, however, as there are many more applicants than available spots.

19 OCTOBER2004

Music industry dealt wins, losses in the Courts: Expect aggressive lobbying for changes to copyright laws around the world

BY OSCAR STRAWClYNSKI The international music industry won another battle against file traders last week, making up for some of the setbacks suffered earlier this year. A British court ruled that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in that country will be required to identify 28 users of peer-topeer software. The users are accused by the . British Phonographic Industry (BPJ) of trading thousands of copyrighted music files, and BPI intends to sue them for copyright infringement once it learns their identities.

The music industry has heen fighting a war on two fronts against file-sharing, suing individuals who use file-sharing software and the makers of the software. Almost 6,000 individuals have been sued worldwide for trading in copyrighted files, most in the United States. In addition to suing users, the Recording Industry Association of America (RlAA) has sued the makers of file sharing software such as N apster, Aimster and FastTrack-based networks such as Grokster, KaZaA and iMesh.

In a small victory for user privacy, the Supreme Court of the United States decided earlier this month thal it would not hear an appeal in R1AA v. Verizon. This decision preserves the Court of Appeal's ruling that the RIAA cannot rely on the Digital Millennium

,

Copyright Acts (DCMA) subpoena provision to learn the identities of users on peer-to-peer file trading networks. The Court concluded that because an ISP is a "mere conduit" for peer-to-peer file sharing and does not host any of the copyrighted material, this type 'of copyright infringement falls outside the statutory language of the DMCA's subpoena provision.

Because R1AA v. Verizon¡was decided on the narrow basis of statutory interpretation, the Court did not consider Verizon's claim that that the DMCA violates the FirstAmendment by endangering users' rights to speak and associate anonymously online. This judgment forces copyright owners in the United States to launch "John Doe" suits against peer-topeer file traders-before they can get an order to learn the file traders' names.

Members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association used this approach earlier this year to sue 29 KaZaA users. Privacy legislation prevents a Canadian ISP from revealing the names of its subscribers except in accordance with a court order. In CRlA v.

John Doe, the copyright holders sought an order for five ISPs to reveal the names of their customers.

The Federal Court, Trial Division, decided that it would not 'order the identification of file traders, with reasoning that was a stake through the recording industry's heart: downloading music on peer-to-peer networks was held to be legal in Canada. Justice von Finkenstein held that, in order to justify an order compelling the ISPs to reveal subscriber names, CRIA had to make out a prima jacie case that the subscribers had infringed on copyright. The plaintiff's affidavits failed to link the screen names to lP addresses, and to show that the files traded were actually the plaintiff's copyrighted music. !fthat had been the sole basis for the deci-

LEGAL ISSUES sion, the evidentiary problems could probably be avoided in future suits, leaving Canadian file traders subject to threat of civil action. However, Justice von Finkenstein went further. He considered the statutory rights granted by the Copyright Act, and concluded from the "private use" provision in s.

80( I) that downloading musical recordings is permitted by the Act. Applying the recent Supreme Court decision in CCH v. Law Society of Upper Canada, he concluded that making a music file available over a peer-topeer service is not distribution: "there must be a positive act by the owner of a shared directory, such as sending out the copies or advertising that they are availahle for copying."

Justice von Finkenstein went on to consider other elements of the test for a production order, and found that CRlA had not established that the ISPs were the only practical source for the users' identities, and that privacy concerns outweighed the public interest in ordering disclosure. Therefore, he denied the order to identify the users. CRlA has appealed the decision.

Perhaps the most important issue to be resolved in the appeal is whether the trial judge correctly determined that the users' actions did not constitute copyright infringement. Although the statutory language supports the position that downloading is legal, the position regarding uploading is much less clear. It could be argued that uploading must be legal for the right to download to be meaningful. However, a technical argument could be made hased on the manner in which peerto-peer networks handle searches, that a user does advertise their shared files in a way which triggers liability fOT distribution using Justice von Pinkenstein's test. The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic warns KaZaA users that, to be safe, they should disahle uploading.

The Federal Court of Appeal will hear the case in 2005.

The music industry also lost a battle against the providers of peer-to-peer file trading software this summer. In MGM v.

Grokster, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal upheld summary judgment for the makers of Grokster, Morpbeus and KaZaA file-trading software. MGM and several other entertainment companies sued the makers of file-trading software under the American rules of vicarious and contributory liability for copyright infringement.

TIle court distinguished this case from Napster on the facts. Unlike Napster, KaZaA and similar programs do not have a central server with a list of all files. Instead, a program connected to the KaZaA network tells its neighhours what file it's looking for.

Because KaZaA does not use a central index, the software authors don't have a way to check what every user searches for and downloads. Since software distributors have no way of knowing about or halting specific infringement acts, they were not held liable for contributory infringement.

The most interesting part of the Court's decision comes in the conclusion. The Court notes that "we live in a quicksilver technoIngical environment with courts ill-suited to fix the flow of Internet innovation," and that legal reform of copyright in response to disruptive new technology should be the responsibility of Congress, not the courts. Given the legal setbacks the industry has faced in the United States and Canada, expect record companies to pick up on this aspect of the decision and push harder for reforms to copyright laws over the coming year.

17

The U.S. Electoral College: Democracy Takes a Sick Day people the right to elect a President, believe it or not.

There are any number of reasons why "This time, every vote will be counted!" the Constitutional framers might nnt have says former President Bill Clinton ahout envisioned a national vote. On the one the 2004 general election in the United hand, it would have heen remarkably States, raising his eyebrow at the controimpractical in the 18th Century. There versial finish to the 2000 edition. It's not was also likely a fear of citizen naivete within his capacity, however, to suggest being manipulated by local interests, or that every vote will count. perhaps a sense that the President's job To many Canadians, "Electoral was to preside over a union of states, not College" sounds like little more than the of people.

Whatever 'the reasons, in the school that lost to Penn State on the CNN football ticker. The Electoral College is age of televised dehates and the New York Times online, the ECV system often an institution that befuddles a good many appears to be an antidemocratic relic preof the Americans to whom it actually venting the people from baving any real applies, let alone outsiders. Canadians, though, already have some first-hand per- say in who leads their country.

It is undeniahle that the office of spective.

Much has been made about the sub- President is an eminently federal posidemocratic nature of the "first past the tion, in that it affects all citizens more or post system" in Canadian electoral rid- less equally. In Canadian federal elecings. In other words, once a candidate has tions, the national nature of the executive achieved a plurality of votes in its one is reflected in the fact that provincial boundaries don't really affect the 308 riddelineated area, all other votes immediings. Of course, the U.S. was formed in a ately lose all meaning.

They have absolutely no bearing on the fates of the much more "bottom-up" fashion than parties for whom they were cast. Now Canada, so perhaps it's only natural that 'state will,' even if a little artificial, imagine that that one riding, rather than should be the deciding factor. .. right? comprising a few postal codes, was the Not really.

U.S. citizens are more than entire province of Ontario! You're accustomed to dealing with the federal halfway to understanding the Electoral government by way of agencies like the College.

FBI and IRS, not to mention mounds of There is an illusion that Americans vote directly for the president, because federal legislation. Moreover, even the historical justification isn't quite right. the candidates' names appear on every Only the earlier states actually formed a ballot. In reality, DO vote ever goes beyond the state level. States tally up the total votes within their borders, andwith two exceptions--declare a single, state-wide preference. Not all states are equal, though: each one is assigned a numeric value-its Electoral College Voles (ECVs), the same number of Congressmen tbe state has in the two houses of government-which weights that preference. So in California, for instance, whose 54 ECVs are the most of any state, it only takes the slimmest margin rAKe THA ..... of victory among its more than 35 million people to grant every one of its union; the creation of the latecomers was ECVs to a single candidate. quite a top-down process. A good number So rather than scrapping all losing votes among 100,000 or so voters, like in of the westem memhers were produced Canadian ridings, such is done for an when Congress carved territory into arbitrary, squarish parcels of land and called entire state, where voters' lists reach milthem "states." (Apparently the haphazard lions. It is til is bizarre formulation which made Florida, in its entirety, matter so nature of the process had Congress itching for decades to apply the invented much in the 2000 election. name "Idaho" to any of the new states, So if votes die at the state level (wbere finally succeeding in 1870). Any fantasy they are repackaged into an imaginary of the U.S. as a voluntary confederation consensus by way of ECVs), who actualof states had pretty much disappeared by ly votes for the President? The Electoral the Civil War. College, of course! Nowhere in the U.S. Whetber the 2004 election will bave Constitution will you find such a term, tbe same kind of last-minute ECV battle althougb Article 2 does provide for as 2000 remains to be seen. Either way, "Electors" who are charged with select"This time, every vote will be counted at ing a President. Tbe original system has first!" doesn't sound quite so glorious. since been updated by the Twelfth Amendment (prior to which the ViceThe author dutifully cast his vote President, for example, was the runnerup in votes to the President), but the toward Delaware's mighty three ECVs in Constitution still never actualJy grants the early October.

BY IAN DIS END

LEGAL ISSUES

18

ULTRAVIRES

Amending the State Immunities Act: Increasing Canada's Commitment to International Human Rights

BY MA11lEW GOLDSTEIN

they hurt civilians and reinforce the incumbent regime's bold on power. Justice must be sought through a different forum, That's why Canada's victims of torture are increasingly turning to the courts.

Take it from Houshang Bouzari-scivil trials shift power from the aggnessor to the victim.

Those who bave suffered become able to strike back. "Let victims of torture sue their aggresSOlS in Canada's courts," Houshang pleads, "and give us the opportunity to seek justice where it is due." As a victim of Iranian torture, Housbang now dedicates his life to pursuing his assailants through Canada's legal system.

He seeks to make torture expensive for those who would wield it. He explains, "By raising

On October I, the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) convened a panel of speakers to discuss the subject of Torture, Human Rights, and the Responsibilities of the Canadian Legal System. Four speakers-e-two of them victims of torture at the hands of foreign states, the others sons of parents tortured and murdered abroad-sshared their personal sagas of courage and survival. Each made the point that torture-induced suffering does not end upon release from prison. Torture's legacy lives on, through ongoing psychological trauma, pbysical injwy, chronic unemployment, disconnection from society, alienation from fiunily and fiiends, and pervasive suspicions of guilt Even worse, the panelists claimed an additional injustice: Canada is doing almost nothing to help them. Torture victims Bill Sampson, Houshang Bouzari, Ken Wiwa, and Stephan Hachemi came together to demand what they are rightfully owed: the ability to seek redress against those who banned them.

Torture victims understand that the government is the wrong body for victims to rely upon in their individual pursuits of justice.

Encumbered by economic considerations, foreign policy considerations, and energy constraints, states see abstract benefits from risky actions with high cost. Besides, what can Canada really do to pressure notorious torturers such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, or

Nigeria'? Economic sanctions don't work;

torture's price, we can transform our sufferings 'into something positive. We can make states think twice ahout harming somebody else."

In order to be. successful,

a law student, against.

to cheer

to compete

think the many intramural teams, and the students who participate in them, deserve support and recognition.

A

How,

Oliver?

How?"

The

answer is right in front of you: You join an intramural team.

Any intramural team. You pull your old cleats out of the closet, inflate that never-used basketball, find that once-prevalent passion for

Hachemi ridicules our

concept of'justice." goes

sports,

even further. "We are victims of torture yet we are denied our constitutional rights to seek legal

redress. We are expected to say nothing and do

Canada's legal system must first be reformed.

Torture must' be made an exception to the State Immunity Act, the statute regulating activities for which foreign states may be sued. Already our courts are empowered to judge foreign states, remove assets from their official enterprises in Canada, and award

nothing, expected to be content to Ianguisb upon social security nets ... and they expect us. to be grateful," Sampson would much prefer to take action in his own hands. Like other victims of torture, be demands a forum to have blame and responsibility placed squarely on the shoulders of the wrongdoers.

He demands the opportunity to clear the record for himself and his furnily. He demands the ability to seek compensation where suffering bas been inflicted.

Canada's government continues to insist upon maintaining the status quo. They argue that the removal of the state immunity shielding foreign torturers will "open the flood-

monies to Canadian claimants. However, the

someone

How will I vent my competitive

energy?

however,

cases where they may do so have so far been restricted to commercial and maritime transgressions. States remain accountable for commercial deeds, yet immune from litigation when it comes to practicing torture, Odd as this may seem, this peculiarity

I need something

for, or at least

furious at our courts. No wonder Stepban

Sampson

why we are the best faculty in the scbool. Not only intelligent and quick witted, tbe law school hoasts some taleoted male and female athletes in sports ranging from football to basketball, soccer to ultimate, and hockey to volleyhall.

Each week these atbletes wear the law school emblem on their sleeves (kind of), carry tbe burden (of the law school) on their shoulders, and aim to make all law students proud. For that reason, I

BY OLIVER OEGEEST

heard mumbling a common phrase: "I'm

wonder the few who survive foreign torture are

Bill

Introducing the U of T Intramural Teams (cue applause) Owing to tbe current hockey lockout, law students spent most of the first few weeks of school walking around puzzled, dumbfounded, aod visibly confused. An unidentified source revealed to this author that many students were

means that a Canadian can legally be awarded damages against Saudi Arabia if he or she slips and fulls while working on a Saudi oil rig, yet be denied the ability to bring suit if his hack is broken in a Saudi prison.

No

gates" to victims claiming compensation, that our courts would become clogged with the lawsuits of those who have heen damaged. To combat this charge one must consider the reality hehiod our government's reaction: if it is indeed true that the number of Canadians ahused while ahroad is so great that it would clog our legal system, the problem is surely more severe than anticipated.

This should only intensify our commitment to justice, to eradicating torture, and to reducing the gulf between words aod action in Canada's commitment to human rights. As Bill Sampson exclaimed before a packed lecture hall, "it is higb time we get those damn floodgates open."

19

SPORTS

19 OCTOBER 2004

and get going.

Monday

great way to satisfy your dislike of opposing faculties, demonstrate your athleticism (or lack thereof) to fellow

maybe

we will.

At a minimum, this section will recap

students, and maybe even meet a few people in your classes. Unfortunately, though, intramurals are also early mornings, cloudy afternoons, and rainy nights. Quite often, intramurals are wet grass, cold ice, bad referees and worse injuries. Why, then, would anyone possi-

the scores

and higblights

from every law

school team in order to boost interest in

I am glad

school sports. Hopefully, as each of our teams demolish the competition and advance to the playoffs, other students may attend their games to provide fan support, and induce a few smiles. And,

intra murals

as we all know, smiling is cool.

In no particular order, so begins the

bly want to join intramurals? the law school

pat on the back, a hall-

ing about.

Now just hold on a second Oliver.

Tbat can't really be achieved.

Can it?

Alright, maybe I have gotten a bit ahead of myself. Maybe we should set the expectations a hit lower to start. And

Now.

The positive aspects of intramurals cannot be understated. Intramurals are a

you asked.

Put simply,

morning

way high five, or even a simple "good game last week." That's what 1 am talk-

2004-2005

program is a concerted and collaborative effort to remind everyone else at U of T

intramurals

season.

lematic Dentistry team that had "been hurt by the default rule last year." Though fum-

Men's Football Following a series of "cuts", the men's football team finalized their roster, strapped on tbeir shiny silver and blue jerseys, and began the long journey towards another championsbip.

Spearheaded by team captain Scott "Intensity is a dish best served cold" Kirkpatrick, the men '5 football tearn opened the season with two straight victories. The first game was an easy 30-12 defeat of University College.

The highlights: two interceptions by Chandimal Nicholas. In comparison, the

ing at the

time,

team

captain

Peter

Hawkings had time to comment: "[Dentistry] is a team that has no cbance of making the playoffs, and arguably no chance of scoring more than 5 points in the remainder of the regular season. And we lost to them. Brutal." We hear you Pete, we bear you. On a sidenote, both Dave Lisson (broken elbow) and Adam Shevell (broken

nose) are out with season-ending injuries.

Injuries

in ultimate?

What the?

second game was a nail-biter, with our guys eking out a 21-20 victory over Phys Ed. Overcoming some questionable firsthalf penalties, the men carne back from a 20-0 halftime deficit to win the game on a last play converted touchdown. Nice.

Women's Football Following two defaults, the female footballers were sitting atop the league standings with a 2-0 record to open the season. Never happy to settle with perfec-

Men's Vol!eyball

After some early season scheduling politics, our two volleyball teams were able to tion, co-captains Marisa Wyse and Kate corral spots in both Div. I and Div, 2.

Stigler ensured the girls remained in top While the Div. 2 team has not played a form by imposing maodatory weekly 7:30 a.m. practices on the frozen tundra in front game yet, the Div. I men opened witb a gripping two set victory over Engineering. of Hart House. Ruthless.

Unfortunately, Although the score was close (25-22, and their undefeated streak was stopped sbort by a husload of ringers and BALCO-suh. 25-23), team captain Nadir Nurmobamed emphasized the importaoce of letting the scribers from Scarborough who apparently Engineering folks think they had a chance arrived an hour before the game to prac-

tice. Not to worry girls, we wiH see them again in the playoffs.

of winning. That's why be's the captain.

Men's Basketball

Men~Soccer A new addition to the intramurals pro-

"I hope to article with a firm that regards me as cheap labour."

Join

a law

a blue-chip YOU'll

firm client

really

with

depth, base

diversity,

and

gram, the law school is happy to introduce

a men's soccer team to our spectrum oftal-

people

ent. Unfortunately tbough, the intramurals department placed our guys in a stacked Division I (with the likes of Scarborough, Mississauga and Engineering), aod we

like.

MILLER

THOMSON

have not managed a victory this season.

LLP

With all the losses, I for commended less. And, as "We have

Barristers & Solicitors, Patent & Trade-Mark Agents

o

o

o

o

strongly Agree

o

o Strongly Disagree

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cb CASSELS BROCK LAWYERS

Imagine being part of one of Canada's largesllaw firms, with all the benefits of a national, full-service piatform. Now think about joining a collegial team of people who want to help you at every step of your career. You can realize both at Miller Thomson.

Our culture is unique because of our people. Yes, we attract lawyers of the highest calibre who have a genuine enthusiasm for the practice of law. But mostly, Miller Thomson is a great place to work because we simply enjoy each other's company.

MARKHAM

CALGARY

For information associate

on our student

programmes,

contact:

Elizabeth A. Hyde Professional

Development

ehyde@millerthomson,ca

EDMONTON

WHITEHORSE

Women's Basketball Heavily focused on defending their title, the female hoopsters opened their season with a 10-0 victory by default.

Captained

by Nadine Dechausay, the women's basketball team is my early favourite in a highly competitive first divi-

sion.

Men's Hockey

Women's Soccer

www.millerthomson.com VANCOUVER

two teams.

You know it.

contact us.

TORONTO (02004 Cassels Brock & Blackwell llP. Cassels Brock and the CB loqo are trade-marks of Cassels Brock & Blackwel1llP. All rights reserved.

already, so victories are on the horizon."

Director, .

If you'd like to pursue a legal career in a setting where you feel comfortable, supported and challenged, please

undue empbasis on wins and one think our guys should be for fielding a learn nonethecaptain Angelo Gentile notes, played all the best teams

Cbock full of talent, the men's basketball tearn will be represented at both the Div. I aod Div. 2 levels. Though neither team had played prior to publication, we are expecting big things from each of tbe

WATERLOO-WELLINGTON

WASHINGTON, D.C.

and

Formerly

known

under

the

moniker

After two defaults vaulted the women's team to a 2-0 start, the ladies' soccer team was eventually stymied in their attempt to remain undefeated, and currently sit at 2- I. Captained

by Kathy Rivington, tbis Division 3 team is comprised of both law students and Rotman students, and has the unenviable task of playing all their games at 7:30 a.rn. Who makes these schedules?

Seriously.

Legal-ice, the men's hockey tearn is com-

Co-ed Ultimate

While tournament officials did not issue our team any individual honours, we here

Arguably better than last year's stellar ultimate contingent, this year tbe law school is proud to field both a Div. I and Div. 2 team. Led by skipper John Inglis, the Div. 2 team began the year with a spirited come-from-behind victory over Vic College, and then a disappointing loss in their second game, 8-4. Meanwhile, the Div. I team opened the season with an easy victory, but were forced to default their second game against a morally-prob-

maodeered

by Oren Bick, and will begin play on Friday Oct. 22.

In addition to the wealth of teams (and games) described above, the law school also fielded a softball team in a recent

intramurals-sponsored

tournament.

Fighting heavy downpours, and a suspiciously talented Phys-Ed squad, the law team finished tbe round robin with a 2-1 record and did not advance to the playoffs.

at UV would

like to recognize

the efforts

of Matthew "Fred Astaire" Pierce, and present him with the award for nimblest footwork. On two occasions Matt attempted to make relatively easy plays and, owing to tbe slippery grass, wiped out. Classic.

10 tbe next issue we will continue to chart the progress of each law school tearn as we countdown the road to playoffs.

Thanks

for listening.

DIVERSIONS

20

ULTRAVIRES

Portrait of the art underworld: interview with an "art lawyer"

BY USA CAVION "Why can't you do something sensible like going to law school?!'" A few of us will remember this sad injunction, its delivery accompanied, maybe, by a subtle suggestion tbat we weren't, maybe, budding Cindy Sbermans and, anyway, weren i we really more comfortable with Kenneth Cole than Keith Harrington? Wouldn i it be more responsible, really, they suggested, to put the gesso away and break out the books?

But what if you don't really have to choose? For those of us who want balance, Bonnie Cvegledi-who practices art law in Toronto from a gorgeous

new office with

its own art gallery-is an inspirational figure.

Ms. Czegledi can empathize with some of the general misunderstandings concerning art as a professional practice. "I think the art world has been very much a secretive world, and generally people aren't very well versed in [it] and how it works. It can be intimidating, perhaps, to people who are outside of it-I think that can be the case even for judges."

Art "is a strange world," she laughs.

Before getting involved in art law, she says that she herself had no idea. "I thought I'd be doing artist-gallery representation agreements and be surrounded by pretty pictures ... I learned!" Instead, it's all about "fraud, fakes, stolen property, money laundering. It was surprising .... [Now] I get calls {rom other lawyers, lsaying] '1 have

likely in North America, with a culture resurface, and art lawyers may find themselves in the difficult position of having to steeped more in the language of business than of aesthetics. But the well-heeled set do provenance research on 'artworks to verify their pedigree. often considers art a serious investment More recently, a nightmare took form in vehicle. It is also, in times of war or inter- .

Jraq when the U.S. State Department failed national upheaval, a form of currency: to protect the National Museum in Baghdad from looting, despite petitioning Paintings will be used to from cultural property experts around the world. "The two main resources of Iraq are spice up drug deals, as oil and antiquities," said Ms. Czegledi.

Three days of looting cleared the museum; down payment ... But it's the valuables, the decoy fakes, even the hard to think of it that small items that could only have been accessed by knowledgeable insiders-"it way because we love art, all went. I remember waking that morning and it has a much and just grieving," she said.

"You see looting in all kinds of places

.greater symbolic value to us than currency.

where there is economic

"They can devalue the frank, they can devalue gold, but you can always get money for paintings. Paintings will be used to spice up drug deals, as down payment. ..

But it's hard to think of it that way because we love art, and it has a much greater symLawyers

may get involved

because its twin significances

make it

ed art-much of it believed to have been destroyed as Degenerate Art-continues to

FASHIONABLVYOURS

Put on some pants, people! realized. And really, how many black sweaters can one girl possibly need (surely ten is too many)? In a rare moment of practicality, J pared down my Amsterdam wardrobe to the basics: functional (yet

When I applied to spend a semester on exchange at the University of Amsterdam, I told the people at the International Student Exchange Office that I wanted to . fashionable) winter boots, sneakers, jeans, go on exchange because I am sincerely t-shirts, sweaters, a winter coat and a mere interested in European Union law. I'm not two purses. Not one stiletto heel was to sure if they believed me, since they probamake it across the Pond. bly hear the same (little, tiny, white, wellNeedless to say, my newfound minimalmeaning) lies from every candidate. Let's ism lasted all of two weeks. I finally broke be honest. Who is going to come out and down and bought the most fabulous pair of confess they want to go on exchange so blnsh pink. boots, and that opened the they can take it easy for a semester? Now floodgates. The problem is that a) I am a that I'm here in Amsterdam for the semeshopelessly materialistic and vain person, ter 1 must confess one of the real reasons 1 and b) the shopping here is to die for. wanted to go on exchange to Amsterdam: I use many different lines of reasoning to the shopping. I'm so predictable, aren't I? justify my shopping to myself Often J like But before we can get to the shopping, to reason that I have no choice but to shop, let's backtrack and talk about the packing. since I am a serious journalist and my readIt was a nightmare! How can I possibly ers are depending on me, It is in this spirit of plan my outfits for the next four montbs? deep denial that I bring you my report on What if I bring boots in black, white, and what people are wearing in Amsterdam. beige, and then one night I discover J realThe overwhelming trend here is slim cut jeans (think straight leg or even ly need my blue boots to complete an outfit? What if I bring my denim blazer but tapered) tucked into slouchy, knee-high when I get to Amsterdam I discover suede boots. These boots are absolutely (gasp!) it's gone out of style in Europe? everywhere, usually in a colour otber than These questions flooded my mind as I black, and usuaJly flat. Also popular are stuffed my entire fall/winter wardrobe into the sneaker-boots-sneakers cut above the several pieces of luggage. Then, unexpectankle (or higher) that resemble wrestling don't reaJly need to bring fifteen purses, I

boots. Round-toe pumps, sometimes in satin or tweed, are also in vogue. At the

bilateral agreement

instantiating this com-

mitment in trade with the U'S. has lapsed.

The art world is fraught with legal pitfalls closer to home as well. Contracts between artists and galleries, control of the reproduction

of

an

artwork, loan arrange-

ments for exhibits and to firms, creating artists' wills, and gifts to public exhibitions involve "lots of special special considerations that non-artists don't think of."

Herself a life-long painter, Ms. Czegledi scoffs at the idea that art isn't a "responsi-

ble" endeavour. "Art is humanity's cultural heritage," she says. "Contemporary art is the cultural heritage of the future, and we're moulding history right now. What we will leave' behind is our art."

And as lawyers, she argues, we can play

It sounded like Rabies

BY CHRIS ESSERT

to undergrad, with three hundred students in each class. My understanding is

My ever wise editor decided that Paris was too far afield for my restaurant

that classes

reviews

(which

to be of

assumes,

any

use

perhaps

to anyone

erroneously,

that my Toronto restaurant reviews

were

ever any use to anyone). Instead, she said, write a "light-hearted Canadian exchange student in Paris type column."

And that's wbat I did.

So. I live in Paris now, which, to put it bluntly, is better than living in Toronto.

The two main things about my living in Paris are (I) Paris and (2) school.

Paris is, obviously, amazing. My walk to school takes me past the Hotel de Ville, across the Seine, and right by

artistic practice. "It's

a seminar at the Royal Ontario Museum, "From Collector to Criminal", that exam-

a sig-

happening!'"

Perhaps this ignorance is particularly

for control of contraband. Canada has obligations under a 1970 UNESCO Convention to prevent illicit import, export or transfer of cultural property, but our

a role in supporting

with art

nificant site of cultural contestation-who can make it, keep it, own it, and be;'efit from it, legally, are issues with both material and moral implications. Law has a role to play in developing cultural rights and defending them where they exist. For

better national and international practices

QU'EST QUE C'EST?

critical that we support art," she says.

"Support is what helps create art-it's not just a great artist."

This month, Ms. Czegledi is presenting

bolic value to us than currency."

instance, art 1Soften coveted and looted for both material and cultural vaJue. Nazi-loot-

edly, a wave of realism washed over me. I

where

there are sanctions. As long as people buy,

tbis case, \ don't 'know what to do with \H ... I've never heard of this kind of thjng

BY JULIA GUARAGNA

despair,

role to play in advocating and developing

DIVERSIONS

19 OCTOBER 2004

ines the collector as both succour and scourge of artists-and art lawyers. ln the meantime,

there are going to be problems oflooting of archaeological sites," she says. Criminal proceedings may be advanced against looters, but there are significant difficulties in amassing the necessary evidence in times of war or economic upheaval.

This suggests that lawyers also have a gym, black sneakers are the norm, so me and the Norwegian girl in my Pump Fit class look a little foolish and foreign in our bright white sneakers.

Bomber jackets are hugely popular, as are tweed jackets, both blazers and threequarter length. In fact, tweed everything is in here, especially tweed purses. Tbe stores are carrying a lot of tweed pants, but I haven't seen many people wearing them, probably because they are not very slimming.

A few less popular trends are brooches; all things green (from pistachio to chartreuse); and jackets and sweaters that tie in the front with a satin ribbon.

Remember Pashmina shawls? The Dutch sure do! They are ubiquitous in Amsterdam, where they are worn as SC3JVes, and are

about as far from real Pashmina as law students are from understanding Administrative Law. Although Pashminas are the poncho of the late nineties (an overexposed trend that people got tired of very quickly), they are fun and warm and colourful and you can buy them for 3 Euro at the market, so I wear mine with pride.

While I generally find the Dutch to bequite stylish and much less visually-offensive than Torontonians, there is one trend that I must speak against. The women here have a penchant for wearing opaque black tights with knee-high boots and denim miniskirts.

Now, we all want to extend the

life of our summer wardrobe (I actually contemplated bringing white pants to Amsterdam, I'm ashamed to admit), but when a look enters the realm of visually

she also points out that art is a

at Paris II are even worse,

with up to 500 in a class.

J much prefer the more participatory style of learning tbat we have in Canada, because I think. that everyone who's at law school probably has something interesting to say about most of the cases interesting

that we read, and when an discussion would get going

idea. Sitting

in

ence.

Example:

and maybe even getting to see some nice /'

The

art? How very sensible.

cafe around the corner from our apartment is a

offensive, I cannot turn a blind eye. Denim minis are for warm weather, and sticking

very typical little French place, where people take their

cold seafood platters and an essentially endless supply of baguettes andfriles is more than making up for it. It's tbese non-scholastic aspects that make life here seem too good to be true.

Professors

and

administrators:

don't

worry, I do go to school. And school is very, very different than school at U of T. In many ways, it's much worse.

Basically, my classes at Paris I (one out of

thirteen

universities,

creatively

named Paris I - Paris XlIJ) are a return

is the three-minute

video and music mon-

es:

was an amazing

Bescherellian. But it's all part of the learning expert-

regular basis, as well as to partake in the

Sometimes I watch movies and think, why doesn't my life have a soundtrack? Where

school

classes here, J am reminded why I switched out of that history degree after first semester undergrad. Sitting in big lecture halls copying down word for word what the professor says is bo-ring.

Wait. Did I say copying down word for word?

Ah yes.

That brings me to the biggest negative thing about Paris.

Everything is in French!

That's right.

Even school. Thing is, my French is less

espressos

standing at the bar and put their cigarettes out on the floor. I've been going there almost every day, and the staff is getting to know me well enough that last week, upon learning that J would be going to school here in Paris, the bartender was nice enough to wish me beaucoup rage, a French expression

fortable by the long, awkward staredowns. The perfect record for this class is The Velvet Underground & Nico. You can totally just picture Andy Warhol being like: "Yeah, so I found this fabulous singer. She's genius-you'll love ber.

She'll be great on your album." To which Lou replies: " ... " And everyone in the background is thinking: "Anyone?

Anyone? Bueller?" (Assuming there were time machines that could transport people to the 80s, and then send them back to the 60s.) While Nico is actually too good to be

BY ANGELA CHU

tage of me learning? Here are the records I'd pick to accompany some of my class-

than, shall we say,

Notre Dame.

Better than Varsity Stadium and Tim Hortons? Maybe. Just maybe. And as much as [ miss Pho Hung, the ability to eat foie gras on a

Listen While You Learn: The,Schooltime Soundtrack

in one of my classes back at U of T, I would get the feeling that coming to law

very new field, and suggests checking out graduate programs in art law like the one in Lyons (in French).

Exploring a new area of law, contributing to the preservation of human heritage,

black opaque tights under them and trying to pass it off as a fall look is just silly.

Nobody reads Ultra Vires in Amsterdam, so my cries will go unheard here. But those of you back home ... be warned!

21

Canadian

Income Tax

Professor Duff wins the prize for making tax cool. It could be the black jeans, but it's more likely because he's Quentin Tarantino'S long lost brother. So by familial default, Duff limits the choice for this class to one of three soundtrack albums: Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs.

(Jackie Brown is excluded for sheer disappointment.)

The Kill Bill soundtrack is way too kitschy

for tax. ] mean,

e'mon.

You've

either got to be nuts or pretentious as all heck to put Malcolm McLaren on your movie soundtrack. And let's not kid ourselves. Yeah, tax is much more interesting

than we all thought it was going to be, but it's still tax class!

The Reservoir Dogs soundtrack is more promising.

The tracks are fai.r\y wen known and are definitely easy listening, but they have a twist of something that makes you want to break out your plastic comb and run it through the sides of your pompadour. Though this album is undeniably catchy, it doesn't really accurately represent the Duff experience.

Now the Pulp Fiction soundtrack makes much more sense. Providing an infectious mass appeal similar to the Reservoir Dogs songs, the surf tracks on this album match Duff's lecture style in both speed and intensity. Indeed, J imagine that trying to keep up with Duff is similar to tryiog to keep your body above water while being pummeled by ten foot waves.

which means, approximately, lots of rabies. Polite Canadian boy that I.am, I said my merci and took my leave. Later on that day, I was delighted to learn from my much more francopbonic girl-

Private I nternational Law Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Oops.

There goes the tumbleweed. OK, so pretty much everyone could take a stab at the

friend that a common France is bon courage,

but for some reason hardly anyone ever does. This is sad because the class is real-

basically need it.

good

expression in which means,

luck. Apparently,

I'll

questions

Professor

annoying, she certainly makes the otherwise enjoyable disc occasionally uncomfortable to listen to.

Criminal

Procedure

After starting the day off at 10 a.m., night classes are really the worst. But Professor comments

Code's random, cynical side make the class-time marathon

completely worthwhile. If you're not listening closely enough, though, these gems will slide by without ever being appreciated. This is likely to happen since Code's superhuman bass voice sometimes makes it hard to heat anything but a constant, \ow-pitched hum. Perhaps the most appropriate pick is a white noise album but,

thankfully, I own nothing of the sort. The next best alternative is Hayden's first disc,

Everything I Long For. This CD has the same muted feeling of an end-of-day fatigue, and is filled with clever lyrics that often go unnoticed. Plus, if Code had to trade in his law threads for a plaid shirt and authentically faded jeans, he'd probably sound a lot like Hayden.

Knop asks in class,

ly interesting but is at times made uncom-

A LAW DEGREE WON'T GET YOU INTO A COURTROOM. WE WILL. If

litigation is your passion and becoming a top counsel is your goal, make sure you work at a firm that has built its

reputation on advocacy. Lenczner Slaght is the leading Canadian

litigation firm, highly rcted by both Chambers and Partners and lEXPERT.

For more information contad Perry Hancock, Student Co-ordinctcr:

www.lsrsg.com

416.865.3092

or phoncock@lsrsg.cam

YOU WANT TO BE ON OUR SIDE,

DIVERSIONS

22

Book tackles euthanasia Dying Justice: A Case for Decriminalizing Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide in Canada

by Jocelyn Downie University of Toronto Press (2004) 201 pp.

REVIEW BY HILARY BOOK On September 29, the front pages of the Globe and Mail and the Taranto Star carried the same picture of a "fit and muscular" shirtless man with a defiant look on his face.

The man was Charles Fariala, a 36-year-old playwright and hospital orderly who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He dido't make the front pages because of how he lived his life, but because of how he died.

Shortly after his death, his mother was charged with helping him die.

Fariala is only the most recent face in the on-going debate over "assisted death" in Canada. From Robert Latimer, who was convicted of murdering his severely disabled daughter in what he claimed was a "mercy killing," to Sue Rodriguez, who fought all the way to the SCC for the right to assisted suicide and lost on a 5-4 decision, high profile cases have highlighted the moral and legal controversy surrounding "assisted death".

This controversy is the suhject of a new book by Jocelyn Downie, a professor of law and bioethics and the Director of the Health Law Institute at Dalhousie University. As the subtitle indicates, Downie makes a legal argument for decriminalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide. She makes important criticisms of the existing regime for dealing

with death and dying in Canada, but ultimately fails to provide a compelling and complete defence of her position.

Downie begins by explaining the law as it is and its deficiencies, beth on the books and in practice. For instance, life-shortening palliative care, whicb typically involves the administration of death hastening painkillers, is only illegal if it is criminally negligent-if it shows a "wanton and reckless disregard for life." What constitutes "wanton and reckless" has been considered elsewhere, but its application to palliative care remains uncertain.

Furthermore, although it is clear in light of Rodriguez that assisted suicide is illegal in Canada, assisted suicide commonly occurs and is rarely prosecuted. Rodriguez herself commirted suicide, despite losing ber legal battle, with no criminal consequences for her assister. Moreover, cases of euthanasia by defmition involve the requisite mens rea for murder, but are usually prosecuted as manslaughter or administering a noxious thing.

Downie argues that deficiencies in the current regime create numerous problems for patients and bealth care providers. Some patients may receive unwanted treatment or inadequate palliative care because tbeir pbysicians are uncertain ahout their liability under the Criminal Code. Dying people are forced to go to court on a case-by-case hasis to challenge the system. And finally, the inconsistencies between the law in theory and in practice undermine the administration of justice.

Downie uses this critique as a starting

ULTRAVIRES

point for her contention that voluntary assisted death should be permitted. Downie is explicit that her argument is not a moral one, hut one grounded in our existing legal values. Her argument proceeds as follows:

Charles Fariala's mother, Marielle Houle.

(I) the voluntary withholding and withdrawal of treatment is, and sbould he, legal; (2) there is no moral or logical distinction between the voluntary withholding and withdrawal of treatment and assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia; therefore, (3)

assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia should be legal. This argument is logically compelling, but its substance remains unsatisfying, It's true that voluntary withholding and withdrawal of treatment is legal. But to prove her position, Downie must show that it sbould be legal, even ifthis is generally an uncontroversial idea. Downie identifies three core values at play in this position: autonomy, dignity and life. While she thorougbly discusses the presence of these values in the common law, the Charter, and legislation, ber discussion of the resolution of conflicts between these values is unfortunately sbort, providing brief examples with little discussion .'

Downie's examination of the "unsustainahle distinctions" between withholding or witbdrawing treatment and assisted suicide or euthanasia is more convincing, yet Downie berself admits that assisted suicide and euthanasia remain more moraUy problematic and controversial than withholding or withdrawing treatment.

In the end, the book suffers from its selfimposed constraint of only discussing the internal consistency of the law. Downie makes a logical argument, but the law is not always logical, especially when emotional, morally controversial issues are at play. If assisted death were really just a matter of logic, then it would be difficult to understand why the law continues to prohihit assisted suicide and euthanasia. The book will likely affirm the beliefs of those wbo already support decriminalizing all "assisted deatb," but is unlikely to sway opponents.

Nonetheless, the book is an interesting and highly readable discussion of an issue that

UV Crossword

BY LISA MINUK

The opposite ofTeflon™ Snakes Fasten together, usually oxen or borses Vocal solo NCR, in layman's speak Issue capahle of being decided in court

Daniels announces Law Faculty IPQ The University of Toronto Faculty of Law announced today the initial public offering of 19,605,052 shares of stock. "After the tuition freeze in 2004, we needed to innovate, and re-establish U of T as Canada's premier full-service law school," said CEO Ron J. Dauiels. "In this era of difficult government relations, we feel it is time for students to step up and become shareholders in their education."

Under the new scheme, a special class of stock will be offered to U of T students before tbe public sale, at a price of $85 per share. "In order to maintain fun-time enrollment status, students wi II have to purcbase a minimum of 270 shares, which coincidentally comes to about $23,000," explained Daniels. Regular stocks will then be open to public sale, allowing preferred investors to have input into course offerings and curriculums througb annual shareholder meetings. "Of course, we expect the prices to rise siguificantly by next September, so we urge students to buy as many as possible immediately," said Daniels. "It's all a part of our, uhh, dynamic synergy, or something. Excuse me, I have a flight to catch."

- Geoff Maysa

Dean ready for NHL debut

we will all face at some point.

Limerick Contest Result~ Congratulations to Paul Iskander for his winning limerick!

Paul will receive a $50 gift certificate to the Keg.

23

Ultra News: Not-50-Real News From Around the Law School

Although Dean Ron D bas not officially 30.

32.

34.

36.

37.

38.

ULTRA NEWS

19 OCTOBER 2004

commented

on whether or not he would

like to be the next President of the University of Toronto, he does bave his eye on another top post. In an exclusive interview with UV, Daniels expressed interest in becoming the next commission-

some moot."

Said Lara, Rob returned hours later, looking distraught and wearing a traditional courtroom wig. "He was fully freaking out, and kept sbouting unintelligently about factums," said Lara.

The I Ls eventually stopped "freaking out", and a majority have again increased their daily SeraxIPaxillEffexor dosages.

- Todd Chernecki

Wires unslightly despite "excellence"

Third years secure secondment with Glass Tiger

er of tbe NHL. With a resolution to the lahour dispute nowhere in sight, current NHL commissioner Gary Bettman looks like be's on his way out.

Daniels has already carved out a fiveyear plan tbat be believes will solve hockey's financial woes aod will allow the game to thrive in the lucrative U.S. sports market. According to Daniels, "it hasically comes down to being able to play hardhall, 'and Gary [Bettman] just isn't strong or wise enough."

Becoming commissioner is one way for Daniels to "make my boyhood dream of playing NHL hockey come true." Daniels reminisced, "I couldn't really skate or shoot a puck growing up, but I never allowed that to kill my dream." Hockey personality Don Cherry would welcome Daniels as the new commissioner:

Matt (Ill) and Max (Ill) stunned Law Society leaders by requesting that their upcoming 10-month tour witb (Canadian 80s band) Glass Tiger count towards their articling requirements.

Max explains, "after Oels, we grew out our hair and realized we could totally make it big as retro rock stars.".

The shaggy, rockin' duo argue that the grueling bours, tbe womanizing, and the substance abuse associated with their tour will he "substantially similar" to the training they would have received at a firm or in tbe courts. .

- Tariq Remtulla

"[Daniels] is a hell of a guy ... and, like me, he knows how to wear a suit."

- Tariq Remtulla

Cryptic Grand Moot Email Causes 1L Panic The terse and cryptic email sent to law students recently about the Grand Moot caused several panic attacks amongst the \ Ls. The email, sent from the.

Administration, merely stated: "The Grand Moot has begun."

Reports indicate that the email induced frenzied panic in fourteen ILs. "Rob (I) and I were having some drinks on College St.," said Lara (II). "Theil be looked down at his Blackberry, yelled out something and ran home screaming about

..

Briefly Noted

Third year spies Illc\rermato,

f>olkaroo

High tuitioo blamed for caaker

SOle

Judge rebukes badger for counselling Witness

ARST PLACE - PAUL ISKANDER

Across I. Rawls' favourite brand of justice 12. You can adversely possess a whole property, or just this 13. Student 14. Reflective surfaces for each of Disney's dwarves 16. Wooden staff, wielded hy turtle Donatello 17. Noise 18. Some say the purpose of the criminal justice system is to do this.

21. Moose's catchphrase (think Archie comics) 23. Complain bitterly, especially on a train 24. is for cookie 25. Ancient property 28. Paddles 29. When you're this big, they call you __

Down I. German "the", before Kapital 2. Section 15 is supposed to ameliorate this 3. City in Georgia 4. Pipe smoking contracts prof 5. Fix-up jobs 6. I think, therefore _ 7. Honest 8. Rotate 9. A corporation's first offering of its stock to tbe public.

10. Mean between two vices, a good trait II. Defunct U of T legal clinic 18. Not amateur 19. Nest, in French 20. Audi alterum parium doesn't guarantee they'll listen, hut they have to do this 21. Digital Command Language (abbr) 26. Using Bob's out of court statement "I killed her" as proof that Bob killed her cod's close cousin 27. Where Toronto stocks are traded 29. Com 31. Positively or negatively charged particles 32. Jihe, or diminutive for Ken's longtime girlfriend 33. Spoken 35. Indicates "that was the original author's mistake" 37. Court of Appeal

The first person to deliver a completed crossword under the door of UV's office In the basement of Falconer wins a free lattel

When the ship that Tom Dudley commanded Sank, he and three others were stranded.

All provisions were lost.

In the lifeboat tbey tossed, 'Til their meaning of "food" was expanded.

Vf\1&H!

When the fates gave this cruel ultimatum, Dudley's words (although not quite verbatim) Were: "One life to save three, Better Parker tban me!"

So they killed lim, and cooked 'im, and ate 'irn.

Back home, for his desperate plan He was charged with the slaughter of man.

The Court's ruling was That "Simply because You have to doesn't mean that you can. n SECOND PLACE - CHRISTINE SHALABY In performing his duties as Dean, It's clear Ronnie's terribly keen.

And wbo else, one might ask, Could perform such a task At the tender young age oftbirteen?

THIRD PLACE - JAMES RYU After a slip and a fall, Cellino & Barnes I did call, They gave me a cane, Screamed, "Yon've made him lame!"

Now I dance as I spend my windfall.

.. ,\2£.111 VIE :

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MAX

PERFECT. •.

fA L K

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r ALIVE?! t>--....--. e--..,,--_.r/ J

ME...

ARE

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