Ultra Vires Vol 10 Issue 2: 2008 October

ULTRA

VIRES

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FACULTY OF LAW

VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2

WWW.ULTRAVIRES.CA

OCTOBER 16, 2008

Grand Mooters: all smiles before the grilling

The Grand Mooters outside of Flavelle House (L-R): Laura Best, Stephanie Couzin, Mabel Lai, Mark Graham.

UV

INDEX •MACLEAN’S RANKINGS.....P. 3 •WINDSOR STRIKE.....P. 4

•JOSH SUTHERLAND BIKES ACROSS CANADA.....P. 10

•CANADIAN POLITICS.....P. 12

•DEAR UV.....P. 17

•ULTRA NEWS.....P. 20

Federal Conservatives re-elected

The Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, have been re-elected. However, they have failed to win the Majority government that they had hoped for. This can be substantially attributed to their inability to gain seats in Quebec which was won by the Bloc. Whether this is a result of the Conservative’s cuts to the arts, their proposal for tougher punishments of young offenders or if the prediction that there was an increase...

BY RANO DAOUD (3L)

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Love law?

And the promise of challenge, mentoring and opportunity? Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Our students know. oslerstudent.com | Toronto Montréal Calgary Ottawa New York

NEWS

The Canadian election, law school rankings, Windsor strike, and more...

Conservative victory - from p 1

...of conservative support in Quebec was simply false to begin with, Canadians will now have a minority government for the third time in a row.

Ontario saw a shift away from the Liberals towards the Conservatives and the NDP. Northern Ontario belonged to the NDP, while the Conservatives took most of Southern Ontario. Toronto however, aside from a few ridings, showed heavy support towards the Liberals.

The rest of the provinces’ results look as had been expected. Eastern Canada is split between the Conservatives and the Liberals. Newfoundland and Labrador

are almost entirely Liberal, while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick see more of a mix between the Liberals, Conservatives, and a few ridings for the NDP. Western Canada was overwhelmingly won by the Conservatives, with only the NDP gaining any noteworthy numbers in British Colombia and Manitoba. The does not come as any surprise, as the Conservatives have always been strong in the west.

Despite gaining their highest number of votes, the Green party was not able to gain any ridings. While party leader, Elizabeth May, did not win her riding, this election represented a win for her party as she was allowed to participate in the

ULTRA VIRES

is the student newspaper of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.

Editors - In - Chief News Editor Opinion and Editorial Features Diversions Production and Design Business Manager IT/Website Manager Copy Editor Photography First Year Content

Rano Daoud & Ari Kopolovic TBD Jeffrey Rybak Karin Sachar & Elie Goldberg Kalvin Sie Lisa Chuyow & Danielle Stone Sam Ault Sam Ault Tina Yang Google Images Mike Hamata & Amanda Melvin

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

leaders’ debate in Ottawa.

It is difficult to know the reasons for the election results, though some have attributed it to the lack of disastrous results predicted by many Harper doomsayers.

However, this year saw one of the most brutal campaigns, with mudslinging seen by every party.

Whether the parties will be able to get over the election and actually run the Country remains to be seen. Though the Conservatives only achieved a minority government, they now have a strong enough minority that they can work with any other party to achieve a majority.

However, if the last few years are any indication, parliament could be filled with

more bickering than actual work.

The results of this election could have a significant impact on Canadians.

Canada’s economy is facing potential turmoil, and the federal government’s decisions could have a strong impact. These decisions will not only impact Canadians during the turmoil, but for several years to come. A strong government would not only lead the Country through a possible recession, but be able to do so without severely increasing the Country’s deficit. In his speech, Stephen Harper assured that he can lead Canada through the economic uncertainty, and emerge stronger than ever before. Time will tell if he can deliver on these big promises.

Contributors

Sam Ault, Aaron Christoff, Rano Daoud, Mike Hamata, Ari Kopolovic, Amanda Melvin, Ali Mian, The New Anonymous Ranter, Karin Sachar, Kalvin Sie, Jennifer Simpson, Miranda Spence, Alykhan Sunderji, Josh Sutherland, Tina Yang 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 contributions 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 18, 2008 and the deadline for submissions is November 11, 2008.

NEWS

OCTOBER 16, 2008

U of T still number one in Maclean’s rankings

The new Maclean’s law school rankings have come out, and U of T is still on top.

Unlike the comparable U.S. News and World Report rankings of American law schools, Maclean’s criteria focus on output rather than input, due to the idea that criteria based on input, such as expenditures on staff salaries and utilities, or library size, are susceptible to manipulation by schools to produce better rankings. The Maclean’s rankings are based equally on faculty quality and graduate quality — specifically, which graduates land the most competitive public and private sector jobs.

Faculty quality is measured purely by the number of legal journal citations, divided by the number of faculty members.

This year, the scope has been extended beyond Canada to include international journals recommended by Canadian academics. This more accurately reflects the current international reality of legal scholarship today.

U of T Law Professor Ben Alarie commented on the criteria on the faculty blog, saying that it will temporarily hurt schools that have hired younger professors-- they will not be cited often at first, but will immediately be added to the denominator. A Dean who puts a lot of stock in the rankings might therefore

BY KARIN SACHAR (2L)

prefer to hire an older, more established scholar whose work is often cited.

One of the new and improved graduate criteria this year is the Faculty Hiring Criteria, which examines how many graduates of each law school are professors at Canadian law schools. Heavier weighting is given to graduates who are hired by schools other than their alma mater.

Other indicators include elite firm hiring, national reach (testing how employable graduates are outside of a school’s region) and Supreme Court clerkships.

The number of students hired for Supreme Court clerkships might be a skewed factor, as it does not simply reflect academic merit (and thus the merit of the school) but is also based on region of origin, proficiency in French and fa-

Five years ago in UV FROM THE UV ARCHIVES

Downtown Legal Services introduces new practice areas Having recovered from allegations of questionable activity in the executive election process, and arbitrariness in the summer student hiring process, Downtown Legal Services (DLS) moves forward with a number of initiatives. The clinic adds two new civil groups: Child and Family, and Immigration and Refugee. The clinic also intends to increase first-year student volunteer involvement. DLS also prepares to move to a larger office across Spadina Avenue. The new office will be called the Fasken Martineau Centre of Legal Services after the sponsoring firm.

Skyrocketing admissions to LLM program questioned Admissions to the LLM program increased by approximately twothirds. According to the report on graduate admissions, 62 LLM students matriculated this year. It’s a major jump from the 1990s, when the numbers of entering LLM candidates peaked at just 29. Associate Dean of Graduate Studies David

Dyzenhaus attributes part of the jump to a significant increase in the number of applicants to the law school in recent years.

Tuition rally draws diverse crowd On September 17, about 200 law students, professors, students from other faculties, and union representatives rallied against rising tuition in front of the Flavelle House. The event, initiated and organized by students, was attended by a wide range of speakers from outside the law school community, including political leaders, professors from other faculties, student government leaders, and media outlets.

miliarity with civil law. It is not surprising that McGill and Ottawa, which teach in French and English and also teach civil law, do very well in the Supreme Court clerkship category.

Some noteworthy factors that were excluded from the include rankings clinic opportunities, styles and approaches to teaching, and course selection.

Those not interested in corporate jobs may wonder why such a high emphasis is placed on elite firm hiring as the main indicator of law school quality. Brian Leiter, who designed the survey, states that, “Elite employers have their pick of new law school graduates, and their decisions tell us something about the reputation of schools and the quality of education they impart to their students.

What they tell us about law school reputation and education matters to every law student, regardless of what professional

trajectory they want to pursue.” While this may be true, there is likely a bias towards schools that are more corporatefocused (something U of T is often accused of).

So while Maclean’s claims their survey will provide prospective students with useful information about which law school they will “get the most out of ”, it doesn’t seem to provide any conclusive information for those students not seeking a corporate job. It is a shame that there is no information to help students decide which law school will best suit them in terms of enjoying their educational experience. After all, three years of your life should not be just the means to a job, but a meaningful experience in and of itself.

From the SLS President

BY ALYKHAN SUNDERJI (3L)

It’s definitely getting a bit colder and that 8:30 class is starting to feel like a bad idea. On the other hand, nobody has more days off than law students and I think I have a crush on Sarah Palin and Barack Obama. If it weren’t for the greatest financial meltdown since 1929, I’d have to say October 2008 was shaping up to be pretty good.

On the SLS front, I am happy to report that we have redoubled our efforts to bring joy and satisfaction to the students of the law school during this period of economic and political uncertainty.

The Affairs team has been working hard since my last report in September.

Under the Greenspan-like leadership of our VP Affairs, Miranda Spence, and CoTreasurers Kara Hardin and Steven Slavens, the SLS passed a budget that will provide clubs with nearly $11,000 in funding this semester. SLS funds will support a variety of student-led initiatives including 20 conferences and speaker series, four intramural teams, and a traditional aboriginal drum circle. This is on top of funding that is directed to returning events like Law Follies, Law Games, and Law Ball. SLS Affairs has also introduced a new funding mechanism that is described on [insert page].

This month the SLS is hosting one event a week in addition to our regular

3

pub nights. We are holding our first ever Rock Band tournament, throwing our annual Halloween Party, and hosting a charity pub night with Osgoode. The charity pub night will serve as a prelude to our charity basketball game against our uptown rivals on November 21. Details of the basketball game can be found in this very edition of UV and details of the other events will be coming soon to an inbox near you.

SLS Caucus has been just as busy.

After creating sub-committees to investigate Internationalism and Career Diversity at the school, our next step is the collection of hard data on student opinions. Keep an eye out for SLS surveys next month. The Faculty finds numbers very impressive, so your assistance with these surveys is crucial for our advocacy efforts.

October also marks the month that Faculty/SLS committee meetings begin.

Check out the notice board at the bottom of the stairs or www.slstoronto.ca to see which SLS Rep is assigned to which committee.

The SLS is really pumped for a busy October – and as usual – if you have any questions, comments, concerns, fears, or dreams – feel free to contact myself or any rep for further assistance.

4

University of Windsor students head back to class

NEWS

ULTRA VIRES

BY RANO DAOUD (3L)

On September 17, 2008, at around 2:00 am, the University of Windsor faculty association went on strike after last-minute negotiations failed. This strike involved all departments and faculties, including the Faculty of Law. The students in the joint JD/LLB program continued their classes in the University of Detroit Mercy, but did not have any classes that were taught by University of Windsor professors. Tensions at the University heightened when the administration took out an ad in a newspaper regarding their last offer to the faculty administration, which some faculty members felt was inaccurate, in an effort to gain support from the community.

Meaningful negotiations did not resume until late into the second week of the strike. The administration finally reached an agreement with the faculty association on October 2, with classes resuming on Monday, October 6. Since the strike lasted for two full weeks, this has resulted in several changes to the Faculty of Law’s curriculum.

While the method for making up classes is not mandated, professors have been asked to make up the lost time.

Some professors are extending their class times if the students do not have conflicts, while others will simply reschedule the classes all together. The examination period has also been extended until December 23.

The reactions from several students (as per request of the students, they will all remain anonymous) attending the University of Windsor Faculty of Law reflected anger and frustration, for several reasons. Some students were upset by the lack of information available: “The University's communication with the students was lacking throughout the strike. Many students didn't even know there was the possibility of a strike as the school year began, and the issues were not clearly delineated to students.”

Another student was upset that the University has outright dismissed any request for financial compensation of tuition for the missed classes. “There is at least a reasonable argument to be made that the school owes students a bit of money, but they won't even begin to ac-

“THE UNIVERSITY'S COMMUNICATION WITH THE

STUDENTS WAS LACKING THROUGHOUT THE

STRIKE...THE ISSUES WERE

NOT CLEARLY DELINEATED TO STUDENTS.”

knowledge that. I suppose that’s not surprising, but it just seems unreasonable.”

Frustration has also been aimed at some of the student unions (not the Windsor SLS) for supporting the teachers. “If they wanted to protect the interests of the students, they should have been applying pressure on both sides to get reach a resolution quickly.” Others are angry towards the faculty association itself for striking and causing an inconvenience to students in terms of a disruption of schedule, where workloads will now rise, and days off for studying will decrease.

Those who have been concerned regarding how missing several classes will affect their eligibility for the bar exam, have been reassured that they will not be affected. Luckily for them, the Law Society does not count the hours of instructions, but requires only that students must complete their courses and receive their degree.

Financial markets in turmoil

BY UV STAFF

The last month has seen turmoil unfolding in the global financial markets.

The credit crunch, stemming from the portfolios of subprime mortgages, has led to what is being touted as the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression.

The real problems began when venerable Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed over a month ago, due to fears arising on account of it being heavily exposed to the subprime mortgages. Fear and panic were exacerbated by the fact that neither the Fed nor any private institutions stepped in to bail out Lehman Brothers, instead letting it fail.

With credit markets having dried up, Merrill Lynch sold itself to Bank of America on similar fears, and Washington Mutual was sold to JP Morgan Chase. Citigroup and Wells Fargo are now in a contested transaction for Wachovia. The US government stepped in to take control of mortgage insurers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. AIG also collapsed and will be auctioned off to other insurance firms, with Canada’s Manulife Financial being considered the most likely purchaser of many of AIG’s units. Morgan Stanley and Goldman

Sachs, the two largest remaining investment banks, have been converted to commercial banks, which can now cushion their balance sheets by taking deposits, although this will affect their ability to generate profits.

Canadian financial institutions have some exposure to the American institutions, although the effect here has not been as pronounced. Canadian banks have stayed somewhat liquid, although there is still a scarcity of credit being felt here as well, especially by businesses.

Housing prices are either declining or have ceased their ascent. A recession in both the US and Canada seems imminent, and the commodity-heavy Canadian economy may face further problems if oil prices continue to plummet. Borrowing money will become more difficult, and jobs will be scarcer.

What does this mean for U of T Law students? Fortunately for law students, while most law firms will also scale back on their hiring, they will not do so to the same extent to which financial institutions and other businesses are being forced.

Shine, at Goodmans.

Year after year, our students tell us they not only get all of the individual training, mentoring and other support they need to stand out from the crowd, they also get to show their stuff by working on real files for top clients, working with very fine lawyers who are also great colleagues. We believe if you really give people a chance to shine, they’ll dazzle.

Just ask Jordan Nahmias, U of T, Class of 2008, articling student.

For more information on the Goodmans LLP student program, please visit www.goodmans.ca.

FEATURES

Clubs Info, Orientation Pictures, Summer Work Experiences

I know I’m a bit of a black sheep here at UofT law. I don’t say this to garner sympathy, or praise. It’s just true. I’m not like most law students. I feel it more intensely at certain times, less so at others.

This time of year is one of those times.

I am not participating in OCIs. When all those emails started flooding in from the CDO advising me to get my resume ready for applications, I didn’t consider it for even a second. Why not, you ask? Well, for starters, I was travelling in Central America, and not about to interrupt my time there with worries about a job for next summer. But the real reason is that I have no interest in a traditional legal career, and especially a big job in a big firm. I’m pretty much a left-wing radical feminist anti-racist proLGBTQ socialist. My interests run more to academia, research, and public interest based non-governmental policy work around gender equality and reproductive health. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to find that on Bay Street.

Even though I’m not participating in

Why I’m not doing OCIs

BY JENNIFER SIMPSON (2L)

OCIs, they are invading my life. I can’t count how many emails I’ve received from the CDO about OCIs. Just seeing them in my inbox reminds me that I’m different, and that my interests aren’t supported by the process. Sending these emails out to the entire 2L student body, regardless of whether we are interested in participating, involves a tacit affirmation that OCIs are the thing to do. It normalizes the process, and the kind of work that comes out of that process – and “others” (read: makes strange) anything that falls outside of it. It takes its psychological toll.

Then there are the cancelled classes.

I’m not sure why I have to miss out on classes so that other people can go on job interviews. I thought this was an institute of legal education. If for some reason I have to make appointments inside of class time, I miss class. Now, I realize that the sheer number of students who do participate in OCIs being absent from class can mean that class sizes would be unreasonably small if they

were not cancelled. However, why is cancelling class the best option here?

These firms and other potential employers want students. Why does our school have to rearrange our class schedule to accommodate them? Cancelling classes so that law firms can chum the waters looking for fresh law students to sink

EVEN THOUGH I’M NOT PARTICIPATING IN OCIS, THEY ARE INVADING MY LIFE.

their teeth into is a total capitulation by the faculty to the corporate culture that has invaded UofT law. I see no reason why OCIs have to be done on my time.

Haven’t these firms heard of weekends?

(Oh right, I forgot. They haven’t.)

On top of that, there’s the self-esteem of my friends. There’s a heck of a lot of freaking out going on. Seeing my friends

with their self-esteem all tied up in whether or not some interviewer “likes them” enough in a 20 minute time period to give them a call-back is brutal.

These are beautiful people – smart, kind, caring, unique, interesting, funny, capable, competent, wonderful people. I can’t say how many times I’ve heard these kind and capable people saying self-deprecating things after finding out that their top choice didn’t select them for an interview or a follow-up. It’s not healthy.

It’s high school.

So for me, I’m pretty glad not to be participating in OCIs. They probably don’t want me, and I sure as heck don’t want them. I hope all those who did participate got what they were looking for from the process, and best of luck next summer. But I sure wish the whole thing had happened without my knowledge.

For me, OCIs are a gross reminder of corporate capitalism’s insidious invasion of my education. (As if the little plaques outside all the classrooms and the firmsponsored lunch events weren’t enough.)

It’s going to be a Sarah Palin Halloweener

Once a year, kids and adults alike can officially dress up and fulfill their childhood, weirdo and adult fantasies. It’s a day to get creative, cross-dress, party, eat candy, get candy or die trying, eat more candy, and freak people out in general.

So, what’s the word, Big Bird, this year for All Hallows? What costumes are going to be the most popular? I’m glad you asked.

I’ll begin with a recap of what was ‘in’ the last few years. 2006 was all about the Pirates of the Caribbean, as you would lit-

BY KALVIN SIE (3L)

erally see legions of pirate kids rampaging the streets. It was also the year of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan (which was boring and hot at the same time, depending on their outfits) and Chuck Norris (Barrens Chat anyone?). 2007 was about the Ms. South Carolina costume (with accompanying atlas and scrabble set), dick-in-a-box (SNL!!!) and the drunken David Hasselhoff (don’t ask why, I have no idea). This year, in comparison, is ultra-serious business – it promises to be an über Halloween.

Halloween is just too easy for Tina Fey

Why? Here are 7 reasons why!

1) Palin vs. Obama 2) A Black Downey Jr 3) The Joker/Dark Knight in general (why so freaking serious?)

4) Sarah Palin, Michael Phelps, and Usain Bolt as mutants 5) Hannah Montana 6) Bristol Palin 7) The Maverick, a.k.a. Sarah Palin.

It has been predicted that, aside from little Jokers and Batmans running around, it’s going to be Palin-mania.

From the original Alaskan Sarah Palin to the exotic Sarah Palin, and the Barbarian Sarah Palin, this Halloween will have it all. What’s with this year’s obsession with Palin? It’s because she is so adorable gosh darnit. So adorable, in fact, that she is the least likely Vice Presidential candidate to make it. But who cares! She has succeeded so far in taking over one of our very cherished pagan holidays and that’s got to count for something. There are also costumes of her pregnant daughter Bristol Palin.

So how do you become Sarah Palin?

It’s super easy. You can choose between 3 routes: purchase your very own Sarah Palin costume (for the Palin fanatic and person who has the money to spend),

use the cost effective home make-uppower-suit-big-hair-glasses generic outfit option, or print her face off from one of the numerous websites, poke 2 eyeholes and get ready to rock.

Obama is popular as well, but as far as Halloween costumes are concerned, he’s a loser. And, sorry Heath Ledger, even though your performance was pretty good. Palin > Paris? Hell yes, according to the kidz and what they are saying on the interwebs. Another popular costume this year is reportedly the ‘sexy dirty cop.’ Hmmm…how do predictions like that get made anyways? I’ll stick to Palin, thank you very much.

Have a great Halloween, everyone, and I hope Sarah Palin does not disappoint!

Disclaimer: If you so choose to utilize the Sarah Palin costume and it does not work out, please don’t come crying to me, as I will not be held responsible for the epicness of its failure. If it makes any difference, you’ll still be cool in my books. Cheers!

OCTOBER 16, 2008

FEATURES

U of T Grand Mooters tackle serious and timely issue

As one of the most anticipated events on the law school’s fall calendar, the annual Grand Moot always provides a packed house with an engaging and informative tour of a contentious area of law. This year’s Grand Moot was no different, with the four mooters – Laura Best, Stephanie Couzin, Mabel Lai, and Mark Graham – turning in strong performances while being challenged by a lively bench – Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella, Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Michael Moldaver, and Ontario Superior Court Justice Todd Ducharme – in front of a capacity audience.

The moot problem was set, as usual, in the nation of Flavelle, and tackled the timely issue of citizens detained by foreign governments on suspicion of terrorist activity. Examining the plight of the fictional Joshua Moss, the mooters clashed on issues surrounding the scope of the Charter as it applies to government officials acting outside Flavelle, and whether those officials are expected to behave in the manner demanded of them when acting domestically. Touching on a sweeping range of public and private international law, constitutional rights and criminal liability, both teams presented powerful arguments for the entertainment and edification of their

BY TINA YANG (2L) (WITH NOTES FROM NICK SHKORDOFF)

peers, parents, and professors. need combat terrorism, and forcefully arBefore the proceedings were even guing of the violation of the principle of properly under way, Justice Abella had sovereignty that would occur if Flavellian the audience laughing with her evident courts were to rule on the merits of the delight at appearing once more in the laws of other countries. moot court room christened in her honSecond for the government was our, as well as a brief, but deft skewering Stephanie Couzin, who had the difficult of Republitask of concan Vicevincing the “...THE BENCH HAD UNIFORMLY Presidential Court that candidate being interroWARM WORDS FOR ALL FOUR, DESarah Palin. gated by CLARING THEIR PERFORMANCES TO (What is the Flavellian offiBE POISED AND ARTICULATE.” difference cials caused no between a additional psyCourt of Appeal Justice and a Supreme chological harm to Mr. Moss, and then Court Justice? Lipstick, of course.) went on the offensive, attacking the reAlso evident was the divide between spondent’s proposed principle of fundaThe West Wing fans in the law school mental justice that “the government and community, who chuckled knowingly at its officials shall not participate in any acthe Sorkin-inspired names in the prob- tivity that would clearly violate provisions lem, and the rest, who wondered what, of the Charter if they conducted those exactly, was so amusing about a Chief activities themselves.”

Justice named Cregg.

Mabel Lai, speaking on behalf of a Speaking first, Flavellian government human rights intervenor, began her side’s advocate Laura Best did not get far into case by outlining the various issues which her argument before being tested. Al- they were not raising, leading one of the though Justice Abella was most vocal in Justices to remark that there didn’t seem questioning the government’s argument, to be much left to their case. Despite neither Justices Moldaver nor Ducharme this reservation, Lai showed there was were to be outdone. Best confidently plenty of depth to her side’s argument, held her own, reminding the panel of the presenting a compelling case for why the

7

Charter must apply outside our borders, especially if sovereignty was not violated.

Concluding the day’s event, Mark Graham made a final bid to bring Justice Moldaver over “to the side of the angels”. Arguing the merits of a controversial new principle of fundamental justice that the Justices were eager to find flaw with, Graham certainly came as close as anyone in his mission.

All four were also fortunate to be “saved by the bell”, as the panel often managed to ask their most piercing questions just as each mooter’s twenty minutes expired. Despite those unanswered questions, all three were clearly impressed with the performances of the mooters. Declaring the need to reserve judgment, the bench had uniformly warm words for all four, declaring their performances to be poised and articulate.

The Grand Moot was a great introduction to the mooting program, particularly for the first-years who crowded the MCR in numbers that surely would have raised the ire of the fire department.

Moot Court Committee Co-Chief Justices Nick Shkordoff and Jane Stewart, as well as Grand Moot Associate Justice Kate Sangster-Poole, should be commended for putting together an impressive showcase.

At our firm, we respect a lot from each other.

Collaborative. Cooperative. Collegial.

To find out more about our unique culture, visit theogilvyrenaultdifference.com

8

FEATURES

ULTRA VIRES

The man on the Clapham Omnibus: not what you might expect

As a first year student, relatively new to the concept of the “reasonable man� or “man on the bus�, I’m quite skeptical of many of the “reasonable� decisions I have learned about in the last few weeks.

I have found myself wondering whether the “man on the bus� analogy is necessarily the right way to go determining what is reasonable.

Disclaimer: This article is meant to examine the use of the “man on the bus� analogy as if it were actually put to use. Obviously since this will never happen, it is purely a hypothetical argument, though it employs real statistics. To stay true to the statistics, a bus is extended to include any vehicle in the public transit system.

The “man on the Clapham omnibus� is a figurative representation of the educated, non-specialist, rational member of society. The standard of care which a reasonable man on the bus might exercise, in determining a case for negligence, was first mentioned by Greer LJ in Hall v. Brooklands Auto-Racing Club (1933) 1 KB 205. According to Wikipedia, the phrase, “the man on the Clapham omnibus�, was derived from Walter Bagehot, a 19th century journalist, who wrote “the bald-headed man at the back of the Clapham omnibus� when describing the normal man in London, with Clapham being used as an

BY AMANDA MELVIN (1L)

example of an ordinary commuter suburb. From these humble English origins, this expression has been applied to common law in Canada, and has been altered to fit a local counterpart in Australia with the phrase “the hypothetical person on a hypothetical Bondi tramâ€?, and in the Quebec civil system with the phrase “le bon père de familleâ€? or “la personne raisonnableâ€?.

The figure of the “reasonable man� represents an ideal standard of those qualities expected of a prudent citizen.

Presumably, a society is made up of predominantly prudent citizens, who establish a legal system to deal with the few deviants that may exist, with the intent to protect the common good and prevent society from harm. My curiosity revolves around the question of whether this “reasonable man on the bus� has become as outdated as other antiquated ideals of the legal system, such as the “speedy trial�.

A quick Internet search was all I needed. In an article compiled using data from the 1996 and 2001 Censuses of Canada, it is abundantly clear tha,t at present, the public transit system may not be the appropriate place to determine what is reasonable.

To begin with, across all major Cana-

dian cities, at most, 24% of a city’s population commutes to work in a given day.

Further, the public transit system is predominantly used by young people within the 15 - 29 age group. In addition, the 19th century standard of a reasonable man, where women were presumably occupied in the home rather than out on public transit, is significantly different from modern times, where women make up the majority of public transit users.

Finally, even after controlling for age, gender, income, and distance to work, public transit use among immigrants is significantly higher than use among Canadian-born citizens. The most frequent group of users (in Toronto and Montreal) included those from Caribbean, Southeast Asian, Central or South American or African nations, whereas the lowest users were those from Eastern or Western Asia, Europe or North America. The usage rates are greatest for newer immigrants (independent of age and income), but declines as people reside in Canada for longer periods of time. However, newer cohorts of immigrants also have higher usage rates than previous generations of immigrants. Considering that, as of 2006, approximately 1 in 5 Canadians was foreign-born, this means that the average

person on the bus likely does not represent a majority of Canadians. Considering that even educated judges have difficulty determining what is reasonable, the fact that a Canadian-born person (let alone someone new to the country and culture) may find this difficult, if not impossible, is not in itself surprising.

From the aforementioned analysis, the person on the bus is likely to be a woman, below 30, who has recently immigrated to Canada. This woman does not represent a majority of workers (as she was on the bus to begin with and only 24% of workers even ride public transit), and is quite possibly still experiencing culture shock with respect to Canada’s culture or legal system. Regardless of her income or skill set, she may have either an extremely idealistic (think: land of opportunity/rags to riches) mentality or an extremely negative (think: land of the invisible poor) mentality about the Canadian landscape.

Though any Canadian-born citizen could have an equally diverse opinion about Canada, the courts have historically emphasized experience as holding significant weight when it comes to...

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

the

new lawyer

COMMITTED TO YOUR SUCCESS AND DEVELOPMENT.

5P mOE PVU NPSF BCPVU #-( BOE IPX PVS NFOUPS BOE QSPGFTTJPOBM EFWFMPQNFOU QSPHSBNT TFU VT BQBSU WJTJU www.blgcanada.com/newlawyer PS DPOUBDU POF PG PVS SFDSVJUNFOU QSPGFTTJPOBMT Kyla Sandwith, LL.B. $BMHBSZ LTBOEXJUI!CMHDBOBEB DPN

Marketta Jokinen, LL.B. 7BODPVWFS NKPLJOFO!CMHDBOBEB DPN

Halla Elias, LL.B. 5PSPOUP IFMJBT!CMHDBOBEB DPN

Joanne Silkauskas, LL.B. Ottawa KTJMLBVTLBT!CMHDBOBEB DPN

ValĂŠrie Dufour, LL.B. .POUSĂ?BM WEVGPVS!CMHDBOBEB DPN

Rick Morelli, LL.B. 8BUFSMPP 3FHJPO SNPSFMMJ!CMHDBOBEB DPN

$"-("3: .0/53²"-

0 5 5" 8 " 5 0 3 0 / 5 0 7" / $ 0 6 7 & 3

8 "5 & 3 - 0 0 3 & ( * 0 /

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP is an Ontario Limited Liability Partnership.

-BXZFST t 1BUFOU 5SBEF NBSL "HFOUT t "WPDBUT t "HFOUT EF CSFWFUT FU EF NBSRVFT EF DPNNFSDF

FEATURES

OCTOBER 16, 2008

For most outsiders, and even those in the know, law firm summer program recruitment is a strange undertaking. The geographical and temporal inconsistencies don’t help: the “On-Campus Interviews“ (OCIs) occur off-campus, the “Call Day” lasts for about half an hour; and the “November interview week” runs for two and a half days. And due to all the peculiarities and mysterious lingo which accompany the process, students generally head into the fray with very little idea of what awaits them. It’s unsurprising, then, that the process is often difficult to navigate, sometimes with unfortunate, laughable, or just plain bizarre results.

Now that the initial round of OCIs is over for the major recruiting centres (New York/Boston, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver), UV shares with you some of the good, bad, and outright weird experiences we’ve collected from the second-year class.

It’s not you, it’s me: Difficult interviewers

Despite the inherent strangeness of shuffling back and forth between little blue-curtained booths, it seems as if students adjust quickly to the OCI setting in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Even the extreme artificiality of the situ-

Stories from the OCI trenches

BY UV STAFF

ation doesn’t prevent some truly interesting, informational conversations from occurring. Indeed, despite the CDO staff ’s gently worded admonitions, students can often be seen lingering in interviews for a few extra minutes after time had expired. As most students discovered at least once or twice during the process, the seventeen minutes of an OCI can simply fly by.

Unfortunately, with the wrong interviewers, they can seem like a lifetime.

These interviewers, who can generally be categorized as the socially awkward, the strangely aggressive, or the steadfastly indifferent, provide none of the balance required to conduct a successful conversational interview. During these recent New York OCIs, one interviewer took a unique approach to sabotaging the interview process by being extremely hungover and cycling through all three of the “wrong interviewers” categories with dizzying speed, not to mention unprofessionalism. Several students commented on the copious quantity of energy drink he consumed throughout the day (presumably to battle a drink-induced headache), his habit of being late for every interview (presumably to retrieve successive bottles of energy drink), his frequent Blackberry checking, and the

coup de grâce: his lunchtime spent in his firm’s hospitality suite asking one of his fellow associates to conduct the remainder of his interviews.

Another New York interviewer felt cooped up in the little booth and wanted to conduct interviews outside the Convention Centre, where, as relayed by one “we spent the second-year: interview...jaywalking across Front Street and other major streets”. In all fairness, jaywalking is quite common in NYC. A number of students also complained of Toronto interviewers who seemed much more interested in each other than in their interviewees. In particular, one student singled out a pair who decided that their time would be better served engaging in some mild flirting than learning more about the student who had to sit there and watch the supremely absurd associate mating ritual.

But as bizarre as that might have been, this next story certainly takes the cake: “I asked an interviewer how the transition from Toronto to New York was, and he replied: “Well, one thing that’s good about NYC is that there are not as many homeless people. It’s a real problem in Toronto, and I think we should just take them all and shoot them.” I didn’t know if he was joking or just testing me, so I laughed awkwardly.”

I see that I’m out of time: Awful questions

sign on with Where great work and great people come together.

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP MONTRÉAL

OTTAWA

TORONTO

CALGARY

VANCOUVER

9

NEW YORK

CHICAGO

LONDON

BEIJING

joinblakes.com

There are certain questions for which it is easy to prepare. Why are you interested in litigation? What skills did you gain through volunteering at Downtown Legal Services? How did you choose to come to U of T Law? Then there are those uniformly infuriating behavioural questions, which serve no apparent purpose other than stultifying both interviewer and interviewee with the dullness of the anticipated answer. Samples of awful questions encountered by students at OCIs this year include (with some UV staff comments in brackets): “Tell me your life story.” (Spoiler alert: my life story ends with “and then I received one of the most annoying OCI questions ever. And here I am.”)

With less than two minutes in the interview left, “What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do in your entire life?”

(At least you now have the answer to the “hardest thing you’ve ever had to do in your entire life during an OCI”.)

“What was your worst job?” And the follow-up: “Tell me why I asked you that.” (Is it because you’re about to one-up me by telling me what a corporate lawyer does? Kidding, kidding...I hope.)

“We are really tired so we are gonna get you to tell us about yourself for as long as you can.” (At least they’re being honest.)

“So, do you enjoy Pokémon?” (Is that

“BIKING TO OCIS IN

YOUR SKIRT SUIT AND

HEELS WITH A BRIEFCASE HANGING OFF ONE HANDLEBAR

= BAD IDEA.”

a euphemism for something else? If so, then maybe.)

Career-limiting moves: A how not-to guide

Nerves are running high at OCIs, and it seems inevitable that a number of accidents will occur, from scheduling mixups, to dropping lunch all over one’s only suit, to this succinct tip: “biking to OCIs in your skirt suit and heels with a briefcase hanging off one handlebar = bad idea.” Innumerable people shared woeful tales of wandering around the South building of the Convention Centre, desperately looking for the OCI room that was located in the North building. One poor student also provided another crucial tip for those yet to undergo OCIs: “You should thoroughly test the outfit you plan to wear. Five minutes into your second interview (and third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc.) is not the best time to be discovering that the buttons on your new shirt like to come undone.”

Attempting to break the ice, a student made reference to Star Trek’s the Borg, only to be told, “We’re not Star Trek people,” by Lenczner Slaght’s Kris BorgOlivier, who had apparently heard that one before.

Another aspiring Bay Street summer relays the following story: “I was asked by one firm what I’m looking for in an employer. Without thinking, I answered that since all student programs at big firms are pretty similar, it was really the people at the firm that would make the difference. The program director wasted no time in correcting me and the rest of the interview was, well, awkward. Needless to say I did not get a callback.”

There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

10

FEATURES

A law student’s cross-Canada odyssey

This is Part 1 of a multi-part feature about Josh’s bicycle journey across the country to visit Aboriginal reserves.

ULTRA VIRES

BY JOSH SUTHERLAND (3L)

the rain had finally stopped, allowing the gloomy grey clouds to disperse and make room for the diminishing sunlight. The little sunlight that remained provided a postcard backdrop, as miraculous shades of orange, red, and pink lit up the sky.

Ahead of me, in the distance, a white farmhouse glowed a burning vibrant orange as it reflected the colours of the sinking sun. The house seemed to be calling my name – almost as if it knew that my aching body yearned so dearly for its dryness and warmth – and surely the owners would take pity and allow me to spend the night. I answered its call and headed straight for the safe haven

The 1963 Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds” is the first thing that comes to mind when I reflect on many of the less-than-ideal, and sometimes precarious, sleeping arrangements that I endured during my summer cycling tour through Western Canada. One night, in particular, rings the bells of eerie memories.

A small and gloomy Saskatchewan town of only seven homes sets the scene for the night I spent in a real life, Hitchcock-worthy horror.

I had been cycling for over 1,300 kilometres, and, on this particular night, the feeling of being tired, hungry, cold and wet began to feel life-threatening rather than presenting itself as mere routine discomfort.

It was getting late and I needed a place to sleep. Fast!

I so desperately wanted to escape from the cold, ferocious winds that were relentlessly hurling rain against my body as I struggled to keep my bike upright. The cold dampness began to penetrate not only my cramping muscles and throbbing back but started to wither my typically resilient morale. My search for shelter shifted from a relaxing daily routine to absolute necessity. I desperately searched for a clump of trees from which to hang my tarp so that I could set my tent up beneath it, providing both protection from the wind, and the dryness that my body coveted.

The day was coming to a close, yet my situation was not getting any better. The once-benign ter- that perched itself in the centre of the rain of the prairies quickly evolved into golden Saskatchewan wheat fields. my worst nightmare as the rolling hills of I made a ninety-degree turn off the endless farmland lacked the cluster of main highway and headed in the directrees that I so tion desired. Even of the the sun turned far m“A SMALL AND GLOOMY SASKATCHEWAN against me, eahouse.

TOWN OF ONLY SEVEN HOMES SETS THE gerly tucking itB e I SPENT IN A REAL SCENE FOR THE NIGHT self behind the fore horizon as if it, arrivLIFE, HITCHCOCK-WORTHY, HORROR.” too, was escaping at ing the unt h e remitting cold house, winds and persistent rain.

I crossed an almost poetic set of old train Finally, after what seemed like days, tracks which seemed to mock me with its

cold, dark voice, saying, “You are on the other side of the tracks now, Joshua.” I should have paid heed to this discreet warning, but my chilling bones would not allow me to turn back.

As I got closer to the farmhouse, the sun dipped deeper and deeper behind the horizon. Its once warm and colourful invitation quickly

turned into a slow descending curtain of darkness that draped itself over the house.

When the light grew thin, the true underbelly of my deceitful friend started to expose itself.

I got closer to the house, only to realize that I was approaching an abandoned farmhouse conquered by an overwhelming flock of crows. As I neared the property boundary, the crows erupted into ear-piercing squawks as a black cloud formed and took flight.

Behind the house lingered signs of a

hasty evacuation, as the barn had crumbled to the earth, two silos keeled over like rotting trees, farm equipment was smashed and dishevelled, and old vehicles lay to waste.

The only thing I wanted was to sleep in a dry place with dry clothes, but at this point the only thing that was drying out was my options. I truly began to doubt

OCTOBER 16, 2008

not only myself, but also the prospect of finding a decently dry and warm place to sleep. My overwhelming desire to rest,

and reluctance to give up, quickly prevailed over my fear and doubts as I continued my search around the property on foot.

FINALLY! Behind the fallen barn, a small, storage-like structure stood sturdy and strong.

I rushed over to examine the small building. My body became numb with

FEATURES

joy as I observed that the structure had four standing walls and a solid floor. In my mind, it was perfect for a good night’s sleep.

However, during my excitement, I failed to notice a few significant factors.

Most notably, that I was not the only guest to have visited this place recently.

This was apparent from the unidentified animal droppings that peppered the floor, which I took as a fair warning that I should expect company later in the night. Despite being lonely, this was company that I could quite happily do without. In addition, I failed to notice that the floor had grown moss in the spots where sunlight pierced through the

gaping holes of the beaten-in roof.

Lastly, I overlooked the fact that the door was missing, thus offering no protection from the cold, damp wind or furry little guests. Or big furry guests, for that matter. I was in trouble, again.

Nevertheless, it was going to take more than a few minor, albeit disgusting, setbacks to prevent me from enjoying my newly-discovered safe haven. I convinced myself that if I was determined enough, I could find solutions to these three problems.

I started with the simplest of the three, the roof. After retrieving my tarp and some rope, I started to patch the

huge holes in the roof by tying the tarp to the rafters and roof frame. Once

11

ture and into the abyss of farm fields in search for a remedy.

Darkness had completely engulfed the sky, and my exit from the storage unit caused the “THE LITTLE SUNLIGHT THAT REMAINED crows to erupt once PROVIDED A POSTCARD BACKRDROP, AS again. The cold wind MIRACULOUS SHADES OF ORANGE, RED, forced the chest-high AND PINK LIT UP THE SKY.” grass and wheat to brush against my skin, causing chills to run up my spine, as this sensacompleted, I moved onto the second, tion caused delusions of people reaching and dirtier, task of removing the various out to grab me. The creaking of wood animal droppings. Making use of the emanated from the fallen barn, creating utilities provided by the prairies, I began the false impression of creatures lurking in the distance. Although I could not see it just yet, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to the barn. As the light from my head lamp browsed over the grass, I saw a faint reflection from the barn. I cautiously approached the glimmer that reflected, and rejoiced when I discovered it to be a slightly rusted door hinge still attached to a door. After tossing aside a pile of wreckage, I managed to rescue the pitiable door.

Scurrying back to my storage unit, I pulled two nails from a floorboard, and with my hatchet, nailed them to the doorframe. Placing the door in its proper location, I attached my bungee-cord to the left nail, stretching the cord across, and safely securing it to the right nail.

My problems were finally solved to chop down a hay bale with my hatchet. and my house was finally complete.

By picking up the loose hay and tying it Not only was I going to sleep in a together with some leftover rope, I cre- semi-clean place, but I was going to do ated a make-shift broom and swept away so warm and dry – protected by the wind the kind reminder left by my potential as well as the coyotes that sang their midhouse guests. Finally, I was left with the night songs while I snuggled into my missing door dilemma. Tired from over- cozy sleeping bag. Despite my comfort, whelming exhaustion and hunger (re- I feared a sense of false security. So, as a member, previous to this I had biked precautionary measure, I invited a few eight hours through harsh elements, it houseguests of my own. From my bags was dark, cold, and I had to do all of this I retrieved my hatchet, my Rambo-like on my own) my search for a plausible so- knife, and some bear spray. With my lution started to become seemingly im- guests close to my side, I slept the night possible. In a last-ditch effort, I strapped away with a calm peace of mind. on my head lamp and risked venturing And this is just the beginning of the away from the safe confines of my struc- story...

OPINIONS & EDITORIALS

12

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

ULTRA VIRES

What really grinds my gears

The season of OCIs marks a significant time as students stress over finding a summer job. Soon, many first-years will also embark on this excruciating endeavour. For most, this will be the first time they work in a law firm. The one thing many will notice, and I certainly did, is how useless law school will prove to be. okay now that may be a little strong, but there is a significant disparity between law school and the practice of law.

I found it quite annoying that after all those hours in class, studying, and going over notes for exams, I didn’t apply anything that I had learned in my classes. I did, however, find that I picked up many skills that were vital over the summer.

One of the most common things that law students will do at work is research.

Law school not only teaches you how to find case law, but how to read and understand both jurisprudence and legislation.

Reading hundreds of cases and legislation gives you the required practice to do this. But there is a lot more to law.

Why so serious? Canadian politics are hilarious. When asked in Winnipeg what kind of vegetable he would be,and why, Prime Minister Harper replied, “I would choose… instead, to be a fruit: just what I am, sweet and colourful.” Sweet and colourful, indeed.

There are few things I enjoy more than a good general election, and all the rhetoric, promises, gaffes, ads, and attacks that go with it. Yet there are many, among the pundits and the public, who can’t see the funny side: many gaze enviously to the south, with its much-hyped “historic” contest and charismatic personalities, and many others just take things here too seriously.

In my opinion, there is a special sort of dull comedy inherent in our political system, with its uncharismatic, uninspiring leaders, each vying for the simultaneous support of the diverse and often contradictory interests that make up our political landscape. By the time this hits newsstands, as I understand it, the election will already be over, so it is too late for insightful analysis and speculation, and too late to change your mind with the dazzling force of my logic. For the record, I expect a Conservative minority, as I have since the writ was dropped. If anything, this article is simply a review of what I found funny in the course of

BY RANO DAOUD (3L)

Classes that I found to have been the most beneficial during the summer were the ones that were more practical. I took a course (at a different law school) which taught me the basic skills that allowed me to do my job well. This included proper citation, client advice letters, memorandums, and paper research. Admittedly, at the time I took the class, I was actually annoyed, believing it to be fairly useless.

Many lawyers appreciated the proper citations, instead of the copy/paste of the Westlaw/Quicklaw citation, as it made things easier to verify. I actually had to convert many pieces of legal research into client advice letters, and knowing some proper formats helped make it more legible for a non-lawyer. I also found paper research to be much more useful than we come to believe. I spent hours trying to find an answer to a question that I was able to find within ten minutes by simply going to the library. I also had to trace the history of legislation (some of which had been repealed) back

further than was online.

Another practical class that I am taking now, Trial Advocacy, feels like it will be the most important class that I will take in law school. The methods and skills that they teach are essential for any good litigator.

Now I understand that we can’t have all practical courses, as we do need to learn the theory side of law, but is it too much to ask to learn some actual law? Is it too much to ask that when I take many business courses, I will actually learn something that will help me in business law? Over the summer, I found that many lawyers I asked didn’t seem to be concerned about which courses I took this year. It seemed like they just wanted me to finish my third year, and that they will just teach me what I need to know.

Now if this is true, then why am I complaining? Shouldn’t I just be happy that I can take any courses that I want and know that it won’t affect me? The problem is that it is not entirely true.

The comedic side of politics

BY AARON CHRISTOFF (1L)

the electoral campaign. Since this election has, more than most others, been defined by leadership, I have decided to focus on the leaders. Substantive issues aren’t very funny anyways.

“You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them; you hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation they turned to a man they didn't fully understand.” I am talking, of course, about Stéphane Dion. It has been over a year and a half since Mr. Dion assumed leadership of the Liberal party, and people still don’t understand him, probably because he can barely speak English. Despite showing signs of being a man with a plan, he has so far been unable to shake the view that he is a wimpy intellectual. All of the impotent flailing before every confidence vote certainly didn’t help.

I think Rick Mercer summed it up nicely: “…the new Conservative budget is wrong for the economy. It is wrong for Canada. And that is why, as Liberals, we are left with no choice… but to let it pass.” To his credit, Dion has been sounding more assertive lately, and looks more assertive in his new more assertivelooking glasses. He has also wisely brought in his more assertive-looking team to give him moral support. I would give the man a fighting chance, but he

has saddled himself with the Green Shift, a tax-based policy that is difficult to explain by modern political standards and doesn’t play well in many parts of Canada during a time of significant economic uncertainty. Finally, his most crucial weakness appears to be his basic lack of support and enthusiasm within his own party, backed up by the results of my own informal poll.

Every Liberal partisan I have encountered, when faced with the query, “Is Stéphane Dion your hero?” invariably begins their reply with “Uhhh” or “Wellll”, throws up their hands, and goes on to explain their support almost apolo-

There is much that you will need to know to properly answer legal issues being asked of you. When I get a memo regarding a personal injury case, I cannot answer it without knowing what SABS is and how it works (I would go into more detail about this, but I’ll save that for another rant).

My point is this: I am not saying that I want to know the answer to every legal question I am asked as soon as I hear it.

I understand that research is a significant part of my job. What I would like is to be taught some substantive law so that I can at least understand the question, understand which areas of law are likely to be of significance (which may not be apparent from the question itself), and know where to start looking for the answer. While the theoretical teachings can be incredibly helpful when I analyze the law and make an argument in front of the Supreme Court, they won’t help me when I don’t where to start and cannot advise my client.

getically, with heavy qualifications. So much for Mr. Dion.

Contrast with Harper, who stands ahead of his party and has a reputation for being a ‘bully’ (e.g., he steals Dion’s lunch money). I think we can put that fear aside, now that we have seen him in a sweater vest. Scientific research shows that the type of people who wear sweater vests are typically warm and gentle, love children, and tell great stories by the fireside. Actually, Stephen Harper also likes kittens and playing the piano.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

OCTOBER 16, 2008

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

Canadian politics - from p 12

rants and raves about “kitchen table” values and working families. You might think he wouldn’t know what to do with the government if he got it, but this time, that’s his pitch: he’s running to be PM. Prime Minister Layton? Gilles Duceppe said it best, but more on that later. As usual, Jack gets points for his enthusiastic attacks on Harper ( a n d s o m e t i m e s Dion), his likeable manner, and his sense of humour ( s e e sweater comment). He loses points for repetitiveness. Every time he opens his mouth, he slams giant tax cuts for large corporations. I honestly don't even think he's capable of forming a sentence that does not include the words "working families" or "kitchen table." He may be in real danger of becoming a parody of himself, which is saying something.

However, in a campaign defined by strength of leadership, he poses a credible threat to Dion in the race for second place. Though I don't really think it will happen, I am intrigued by the possibility of Jack becoming Leader of the Official

Opposition. A friend of mine claims that he once passed Jack Layton on the street, and Jack winked at him. Needless to say, he was pretty freaked out.

Elizabeth May, to her credit, has done excellent work in bringing her party into the spotlight. I know more enthusiastic Greens than enthusiastic Liberals this election. Though she performed poorly in the French debate due to her lack of French, she came off strong in the English debate and did a good job sticking it to Harper. That being said, she has the face of a beaver and hair like The Joker (except it’s not green, ironically). Her decision to take down Peter MacKay in his home riding of Central Nova puts her own candidacy at risk, in an election in which she has an actual chance of winning a seat for her party. Too bad.

I will conclude with the words of Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe: "I know I won't be Prime Minister, and three of you won’t be Prime Minister either," he said, turning towards the visibly uncomfortable Dion and Layton during the English debate. "Some of you know it, but you won’t say it." The spectacle of the Canadian election is over, one of our leaders has triumphed, and now political aficionados can give their undivided attention to the carnival in the United States.

OCI stories - from p 9

fringement. I just said what I thought they wanted to hear, and I wonder how many others do the same. And if we all say what we think they want, I can’t imagine how boring we all must seem.”

Another sobering reflection on the OCI process reflects the still-behind the times nature of the legal profession in Canada: “When I asked one firm about whether their extremely uneven gender

breakdown at the associate level affected the firm culture in any way, the interviewer defensively asked me whether I did research like this on all the firms – like I was persecuting them or something. They went on to deny that they had noticed any skewed gender ratio in their office, despite the information on their NALP form.”

But as difficult as the process is, and as much as it may not actually bring stu-

I’m not making this up – I’m not allowed to make this up. In all seriousness, the funniest thing about those sweater vest ads is that they worked. Apparently, women love that sort of thing (i.e., warmth and humanity, even if feigned).

It also gave Jack some good material during the debate (“Where’s the platform – under the sweater?”).

Despite his best attempts to improve his image, Harper has been plagued by embarrassing revelations during the campaign that gave some credibility to his detractors. Bob Rae’s discovery that Harper’s 2003 speech on Iraq was plagiarized from Australia’s John Howard has fuelled Dion and his oft-repeated charge that the PM has “George 'Boosh' ideology”. Scorned woman Julie Couillard’s tell-all memoir claims that her ex-, exminister Maxime Bernier, mocked Stephen Harper for being fat and drinking too much Pepsi. In defense of Mr. Bernier, Harper did get pretty fat, but he seems to have lost it for the campaign.

Jack Layton, as always, is inherently funny. Maybe it's the moustache. He

The morning after: Serious reflections

One student offered up a more serious reflection on the business of OCI-ing – a warning of which first-years might want to take heed: “I was warned by a recent graduate that the idea that you will find what you want during the OCI process is a myth.

Once you get into those booths, it just becomes a game, and it’s a game that you will try to win no matter if you care about the employer or not. There is a lot of truth in that, I thought, as I left the DOJ booth having expressed my opinion that sometimes cost can justify rights in-

13

dents what they want, a final student offers a slightly cheerier tale of the kindness of strangers, and how she managed to get through the day. When the heel of her shoe got caught in the cuff at the bottom of her suit pants and tore it, she sought the help of the in-house seamstress at the Intercontinental Hotel during a break in interviewing. Explaining that she was not a guest of the hotel, but rather was there for interviews, she received immediate sympathy. Having no spare pants to wear while the work was being done, she was whisked away to the hotel spa for 30 relaxing minutes – and when her pants came back, there was no charge. The world can be a good place after all.

14

Reasonable man - from p 8

...evaluating what is reasonable. As such, someone new to the country may be lacking the necessary experience to determine what is reasonable. For example, a person from Jamaica may view Canada as exponentially safer than a Canadianborn person, merely because of their native experience. Consequently, their views of what is prudent versus what is exceptional would logically be drastically different from those of a Canadian-born citizen. In fact, immigrants are not always held to the same standard as Canadianborn citizens in court, because the courts cannot attribute specific knowledge or experience to this group any more than they could to children.

Should this person be entrusted with deciding what is reasonable in serious legal decisions in Canada? Not if the opinion is supposed to represent what a prudent, experienced Canadian might think. Clearly the reasonably man standard is outdated. If we were to find a man on the bus, chances are he would not even have a normative perspective.

And if only women were available for question, as any “reasonable man” might argue and as is argued in the mythical case of Fardell v. Potts, “There might be expected at least some passing reference to a reasonable person of the opposite sex; that no such reference is found, for the simple reason … that legally at least there is no reasonable woman…It is probably no mere chance that in our legal text-books the problems relating to married women are usually considered immediately after the pages devoted to idiots and lunatics. Indeed, there is respectable authority for saying that at Common Law this was the status of a woman. Recent legislation has whittled away a great part of this venerable conception, but so far as concerns the law of negligence, which is our present consideration, I am persuaded that it remains intact”.

Clearly the concept of fashioning a standard around fictional person has its challenges. Somehow I doubt that judges of the early 19th century intended that one day, considering the perspective of the “man on the Clapham omnibus” might actually require asking a young immigrant woman’s opinion.

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

ULTRA VIRES

SLS creates New Activity Program SLS Affairs is putting out a call to solicit ideas and expertise for new events and activities at the law school. We realize that pub nights are not for everyone, so we have expanded our repertoire with events like Coffee Houses and the upcoming Rock Band Tournament. However, given the vast and varied experiences and interests of our fellow students, we thought the most effective way of creating new events would be to ask students what kind of events they would like us to hold.

For that reason, we have created the New Activity Program. Through this program, we are asking students to propose events or activities that they would like to see happen at the law school. I am hesitant to suggest examples, because I do not want to limit the scope of what you can come up with. The intent of this program is to support any initiative that will be of interest to law students.

Of course, some proposals are more

BY

MIRANDA SPENCE (2L)

likely to be approved than others. In your proposal, we would like you identify at whom the event is aimed, what benefit it will bring to the law school community, and how many people you think are likely to attend. If fewer people are interested, this does not mean the proposal will not be approved, but the amount of SLS support the proposal receives will be proportionate to the number of law students involved.

Most of all, we are looking for events and activities that have not happened before.

SLS support will take a variety of forms. We have funding available for this program, and will allocate it as needed. Additionally, we will provide institutional support through means such as advertising, speaking with the administration, and providing our expertise in planning events at the law school. Again, the form that SLS support takes will vary depending on the type of event proposed.

In addition to creating new events, this program is aimed at encouraging more people to get involved with the SLS. If you propose an event, we would like you to take a leadership role in carrying it out, with our support.

This provides a great opportunity for anyone who was interested in getting involved with a law school activity, but felt that the time commitment was too much. We are also open to proposals from existing clubs who would like to partner with the SLS. Application forms will be available on the door of the SLS office and from the SLS website. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at miranda.spence@utoronto.ca, or speak to any member of the SLS Affairs team.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you, and hoping that this program will result in really great events that can continue on from year to year.

Freedom of Information Act

If you have ever made a Freedom of Information (F.O.I.) request at the City of Toronto you may have a sense of how inadequate this procedure is at getting you access to information it is supposed to provide. The Corporate Access and Privacy (CAP) office is the City’s main unit for facilitating access to this information.

The CAP office is not operating optimally, as I discovered soon after making a recent F.O.I. request. The Ontario Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) governs F.O.I. requests made in Ontario municipalities. MFIPPA requires a municipal institution to respond to a F.O.I. request within 30 days of receiving it unless notice of a time extension is provided to the requester before the lapse of this period. The CAP office breaches this statutory requirement in about 15% of cases, one of which was my own.

The CAP office should work efficiently, and, where necessary, be provided with enough resources to fulfill its statutory reporting duties.

In addition to statutory breaches, the City also runs afoul of notions of procedural fairness and transparency when processing F.O.I. requests. This is evident whenever the CAP office denies access to records. About 600, or 12%, of the approximately 5,000 F.O.I requests the City received through the CAP office last year were denied either in full or in part. Access to records can be denied on numerous statutory grounds including that records do not exist or are privileged. In these denials,

BY ALI MIAN (3L)

the CAP office does little more than state it is denying access on an enumerated statutory ground. As details of the search are not provided with the access decision, the requester cannot ascertain if the search was even conducted or conducted properly, and, in cases of denials, whether some evidentiary basis existed to deny access. The CAP office has an unfortunate practice of not disclosing search details until a requester successfully receives leave to appeal an access decision to the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) of Ontario. This practice developed because it limits the number of times the CAP office must provide adequate reasons for its decisions. Only about 50 F.O.I. requests made through the CAP office last year, or 8% of the office’s decisions to deny access, were reviewed through the IPC. It was only during the IPC adjudicative process that search details for my records were revealed. A requester should not have to rest his or her right of getting adequate reasons for the City’s access decision on a possibility of being granted an appeal of that decision to the IPC. While the CAP office may claim that it has adopted this practice with search details because it is underresourced, the office seems to overlook the fact that City officials who conduct F.O.I. searches routinely keep records of them. Such records could easily be provided to requesters at the time of the access decision, or shortly thereafter, rather than at the IPC appellate stage.

In the spirit of procedural fairness and transparency, the City should provide

search details for all access decisions at the time of their making or shortly thereafter.

Furthermore, the CAP office must be empowered to conduct searches where and when necessary. Currently, the office does not conduct any searches in municipal institutions; instead, it relies entirely on institutions that store the requested type of records to conduct searches on its behalf. Since these institutions cannot always be trusted to conduct proper searches or to adequately report them to the CAP office, especially in cases where requested records or their search details would reveal institutional incompetencies, there must be a means to overcome such impediments. The CAP office should have the capacity to conduct its own independent searches for records where there is some evidence to suggest that institutions storing the requested type of records will not conduct independent searches or adequately report them to the requester. If these above recommendations are implemented, the F.O.I. process in Toronto would be much improved.

OCTOBER 16, 2008

I have not missed a Weezer show in Toronto since they came back from their long post-Pinkerton hiatus. Does that make me a devoted fan? I guess so.

Now, six albums later, Mr. Rivers Cuomo and band are still epic as ever. The only difference now is that they are older and I am older as well – meaning that I’m rocking out with 14 year olds who haven’t even heard of Across the Sea or My Name is Jonas, for that matter. But it’s alright, as this aging process is part of the inevitable and I suppose it won’t get any better. The first time I heard the Blue album was in grade 7, and just like me, these kiddies are experiencing the Red album all the same – its kind of like musical karma, or, rather, me just trying to justify my nostalgia as a 90s kid, but I’m sure all of you will understand.

So here it is, a concert review of the Weez at the Air Canada Center. The opening bands were Tokyo Police Club and Angels and Airwaves, both of which were sub-par, to say the least. Let’s begin with the young band Tokyo Police Club from Newmarket. If you’re a fan of wannabe modern indie music with threenote keyboard playing, then this is the band for you. Granted, their band isn’t all that bad, but what I’m complaining about is the substance of their show in

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

Long live Weezer

BY KALVIN SIE (3L)

general. Off-key songs, conceited comments like “We’ll be playing the ACC 60 times”, and unnecessary keyboardist spastic, foot-stomping, A.D.D. antics just doesn’t scream out “good performance”.

And it’s also out of place how all their s o n g s abruptly end, leaving the audience wondering whether they just messed up or if the song was done. I suppose they are still young and still have a lot of time to improve…

Next up was Angels and Airwaves. I must confess, I was looking forward to seeing Mr. Tom DeLonge’s new outfit play. I’m a Blink fan and I’ve seen them live, so I was somewhat expecting a show of equal or superior caliber (even though the latter is quite an impossible goal to reach). Boy was I mistaken. I’m going to

sum up their set as long, drawn out, pseudo-epic U2-esque songs with too many “I love you”s (directed at the drummer) and mediocre riffs (directed at our poor ears). What the hell was Tom thinking when he was dancing across the stage for more than ¾ of the time? This isn’t So You Think You Can Dance, and even if were, it T o m would be the dude getting laughed at during the auditions where the judges ream him out for straight up wasting their time. Tight jeans, weird squirmdancing-twisting body movements and awkward flashlight playing is a good formula for “go home and make a time machine so you can regain your street cred by staying with Blink 182.” I don’t think his dancing was suitable for anyone and, to be quite honest, I was feeling embar-

15

rassed for him. Apparently the 16-yearold girls beside me were loving it, but I must assume they were either deaf or blind or possibly both.

Weezer was amazing (this is a very unbiased opinion or course). They opened with My Name is Jonas, then went into Pink Triangle, and then, shortly after, onto Say it Aint So. Rivers seemed really happy in his red jump suit and so did the rest of the band for that matter. Highlights of the night included a cover of What’s the Story Morning Glory by Oasis and Sliver by Nirvana. I would have never guessed that they’d do a Nirvana cover. Wow. What was also really awesome was how they managed to get a whole crew of local musicians on stage to perform with Weezer. It was a really cool version of Island in the Sun. They played some new songs too, and the little kiddies loved it. It’s such a great accomplishment for a band to span two-plus generations, and it doesn’t look like they are stopping anytime soon. The only thing I could have asked for was Only in Dreams or Across the Sea, but hey, you can’t win them all. Buddy Holly ender to seal the deal and that was it. All I have left to say after the show was over, was please, pretty please, wake me up before September ends please, Weezer style. =w=

Hang Your Hat Here…

We are looking for students with diverse backgrounds, eclectic interests and entrepreneurial spirit to hang their many hats with ours.

Be a part of one of the most dynamic legal practices in Canada. Contact our Assistant Director of Student Programs, Leigh-Ann McGowan at lamcgowan@casselsbrock.com or visit our student website at www.casselsbrock.com

© 2008 Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. Cassels Brock and the CB logo are registered trade-marks of Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. All rights reserved.

D I V ER S I ON S

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

16

Faculty Anagrams, Dear UV , and more...

ULTRA VIRES

Gamers are in for a “Crysis” As a kid, I used to play video games lots of them - but the experience of growing up and going to law school has taken its toll on the amount of time I have available for video games. In fact, I can’t think of the last time I played a game. Its been years, not months.

Until three days ago.

That’s when I got Crysis for P.C. (it also comes for consoles). Crysis is a first-person shooter for people who don’t have time to play video games. The whole campaign takes about 10 hours,

BY ARI KOPOLOVIC (3L)

and the game consists almost entirely of shooting: people, robots, and aliens. The variety is what makes it so great.

This game is quite reminiscent of developer Crytek’s previous offering, Far Cry (which is one of the last games I played when it came out several years ago). Crysis is super-Far Cry: it is similar to it but better in every way. Are you here to think? Crysis is not for you; thinking is for weaklings. Crysis subscribes to the mentality, “why think when you can shoot?” Accidentally trying to shoot one of your fellow soldiers will yield up a red “X” and the gun will not fire, so you can pretty much just hold down the trigger and not have to worry that you might accidentally gun down one of your teammates.

A map on your HUD ensures that you will never get lost. Objectives appear on it and almost invariably consist of walk-

Nuit Blanche review

BY KALVIN SIE (3L)

It’s great that we have an all-night contemporary art festival that we can all attend. It’s a time when everyone can be cool, and can be seen saying out loud ‘but what is art? THIS is art!’ For those of you who didn’t get a chance to roam the streets and tire yourselves out for 10 hours, here are this year’s top three exhibits brought to you from an extensive survey of all art critics of the GTA (I lie, it’s just my top three).

First place goes to Stereoscope at City Hall. Spectacular; this was amazing. A beautiful cell phone modern era light extravaganza that screams out “this is so cool”.

Second place goes to waterfall at the Hydro building. Fantastical plastic water sparkly enchantment catching my eye (and the eyes of thousands of others) for a good 5 minutes or so. You can’t help but stare onwards not really knowing why.

Third place goes to the College Park Zombie Fest! With tonnes of people and very few zombies, it leads you to ask

the obvious question: ‘where the zombies at?’ As soon that question is asked however, out of the darkness comes a construction worker zombie all up in your grill. Not so spooky and kind of lame you say for third place? How dare you!

The real third place goes to Imagine Peace – not because of Yoko Ono but really because of how surreal the numerous cards on trees all looked. An urban postmodern forest of messages is always something to marvel about.

So there you have it, Nuit Blanche in less than 200 words. Thanks again Toronto for a night where we can all hang out and experience the cold air and art with friends and strangers. I’ll admit that the whole thing was a bit underwhelming and over-hyped at times but it’s not every night where you can do this so bollocks to all you nuit blanche haters.

So say “yes” to artificial light pollution, “yes” to urbanized art spaces and “yes” to street meat at 3 in the morning.

ing (or running/driving/flying) to said location so that you can shoot things. I only got lost once throughout the entire game, while stuck inside an alien cavern, and it left me exasperated and wondering “why can’t I shoot through this wall?”

The game had tricked me: the wall I could not shoot through disappeared by itself after a few moments.

What game would be complete without a power-suit (and I don’t mean the kind with pinstripes)? Crysis features a power-suit that gives your character super strength, speed, armour, and the ability to become invisible. Most importantly, the suit ‘heals’ you, so each battle can be conducted with your character at full strength. No searching around for wimpy health power-ups. Survive one melee interchange and you’re good to go, back at 100% health in mere seconds.

In all seriousness, this is a great first-

person-shooter. It’s not heavy on thinking, strategy, backtracking and keeping your squad-mates alive. You won’t get lost or have to worry about not having switched to a different weapon or running out of ammunition (on easy mode, at least). So, if you’re short on time and have an itchy trigger finger, this game is for you. The PC version can be a bit of a system hog, but the graphics are amazing.

World news that makes the world go ‘round

BY KALVIN SIE (3L)

Our world is a crazy place and I like it that way. Instead of boring you with news of death, destruction, corruption and politics, I shall attempt to enlighten you with some news that really makes me glad I’m a human being.

In Japan, monkey waiters are taking over restaurants!

Sick and tired of bad service and crappy human waiters?

Have no fear, because these primates are smarter than humans. They get beer and napkins for you, and they do it correctly.

Best thing is, they get paid beans (soy beans, to be exact) and you don’t have to tip them. Awesome. Go go monkey waiters!

Everyone should be happy to know that modern day pirates rule the waters off the coast of eastern Africa. The Pirates of the Caribbean got nothing on the Pirates of the Indian Ocean. These Somalian pirates won’t take no for an answer and have even demanded $20 million dollars for an arms-bearing ship in their possession. How’s that for booty, $20 million or a dead man’s chest?

When asked about why they need the $20 million dollars, the captain of the pirate ship replied: “We got a lot of men to

feed.” He even tried to persuade the international community that they were not pirates at all, merely unofficial coast guards. Epic.

On the North American home front, it has been brought to my attention that the Death Star has been seen over San Francisco. So says Youtube anyways. Tie Fighters have been documented zooming along the harbourfront near the Golden Gate Bridge and the Death Star looms ever closer by the minute. Photoshopped stills and amateur internet video editing skills you say? Nah, I think this is the real thing. Looks like George Lucas was right about one thing.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, real world news that matters. Global recession and impending economic collapse mean nothing in the face of monkey waiters, pirates and Star Wars. What a wonderful world.

OCTOBER 16, 2008

ULTRA NEWS

Dear UV

BY MIKE HAMATA (1L)

Dear UV Flu season is approaching, and I’m having a really tough time keeping up with readings and life in general as it is; I really can’t afford to get sick at this stage in the game. Kind editorialist: how do I keep from getting sick this November?

- Coolness isn’t Contagious.

Dear UV People are always talking about alternative careers in the law, but it seems like all my friends are landing Bay Street or New York jobs with “Big Law”. I know that route is not for me, but I’m having trouble finding something substantially different.

Can you help?

– More Alternative than Sonic Youth

munity baby! As far as I understand it (which is really far), it’s a super secret force field that the Supreme Court invented (because that’s how they roll), which can never be penetrated, (even if it gets really drunk). Basically, you just need to follow the Supreme Court’s lead and wash your hands with a little inter jurisdictional immunity whenever it’s convenient for you. Bam… Instant sterilization. It actually shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise – the law and futuristic force fields have been pals since Captain Kirk became a lawyer on Boston Legal, and since Boston Legal became the worst show on television.

ple of recent vacancies which need filling, but first, lets do a simple job placement test. First, take a pillow case and fill it with babies. Now, take a second pillow case, and also fill it with babies.

Close your eyes and get one of your big law friends to repeatedly slash one of the baby bags with a hunting knife (they won’t mind, this will actually bring back endearing memories from the OCI process). Let the other pillow case of babies die of natural causes. Open your eyes. Quick, which pillow case of babies was slashed to death? If your answer was “It’s whichever one the police want it to be”, then you may qualify for the newly vacant post of Pediatric Forensic Pathologist in Ontario. Can you see another

country from your apartment (or imagination)? Then, doggonit, shucks, you could be the next dang Vice President, Well hoooowdy! Rootin Tootin… scootin.

Dear UV I’m having a great time here at law school, and I wanted everyone to know, I love the law. I just want to scream it from a Dear Coolness mountain top.

I’m going to let you in on a little Dear Sonic Youth – Full Disclosure lawyering secret – inter jurisdictional imLooking in the news, there are a cou-

17

Dear FD Sure, the law may seem great now; driving you around in its Corvette, taking you to the ice cream social at the yacht club, standing outside your bedroom window with a ghetto blaster playing “In Your Eyes” more sincerely than John Cusack ever could… its all good times and big smiles, right? Then the law takes you out behind the middle school and gets you pregnant, doesn’t return your calls, and it starts to burn when you pee.

Maybe I’m just jaded. Go ahead. Love the law, but no more PDAs. Please.

Dear UV This column is well into its second issue, and you still haven’t lost your keen sense of wit or your biting satire, how do you do it?

– George Orwell

Dear Georgie Do you like apples? I can stay so fresh because I sleep every night in the vegetable crisper in my fridge. Prove me wrong. How about them apples.

DIVERSIONS

18

ULTRA VIRES

Anonymous Ranter:

The limits of time and space; or, Friday classes suck

Could we be looking for you? fmc-law.com/students

The facilities at the law school have been in surprisingly good shape over the last while. As a result, the obligatory rant about physical plant will not be appearing this month. In its place, please enjoy the following reflection on the limits of time and space.

Friday classes suck.

Indeed, Friday classes suck a lot.

Like many people, I like routine and structure. I am, as they say, two wild and crazy guys. But I prefer the surprises and spontaneity in my life to come from interesting places, not from the Administration. Imagine my joy when, on arriving for the first day of upper-year classes, I learned that I had more than a month straight of make-up classes. Even before any of my professors missed classes for the important reasons that they do.

Friday is an important time. For reflection; for friends; for family. For sleeping. For maybe doing the not-insubstantial amount of reading that I have for, you know, law school. Friday is my time. If Michael Code wants my time, he is welcome to it. I will swim through molten lava for the mix of wisdom and class that is two hours with Michael Code. Sadly, Michael Code does not teach everything. Also Ben Alarie – he could make learning the phone book fun. Oddly, Ben Alarie also does not teach everything.

I for one appreciate that the law school recognizes the key Jewish holidays. Note, however, that the mass hell of rescheduled classes came from OCIs. I don’t appreciate OCIs. Sure, they are necessary. Like the dentist.

Except the dentist isn’t dozens of people evaluating you like a piece of meat over two of the most disheartening days of your life. It’s like speed dating, they say. Well, now you’ve ruined speed dating for me.

But if you’re lucky you might end up with a summer job at a Firm. Perhaps you will enjoy the process by which they eat your soul. It’s like when you break someone down before building them back up. Except they don’t build you back up.

It “builds character”.

(Of course, I am not speaking from experience. My firm is an excellent group of professionals. I learned an incredible amount and will always be thankful for the experience.)

Yes, the term has a fixed length. Yes, we are bound by time and space. But we’re constantly told that our law school is the finest. So could someone think of something creative?

While I’m on the topic of space: Hamish Stewart and Lorne Sossin have been relocated to 39 Queen’s Park.

This makes me sad. They are so far away. Also, for the sake of decency and human compassion, could someone find Ben Alarie an office he does not need to crouch to move around in? It is bad enough that he cannot rule the world, at least not yet. We’ve come to accept that.

This note especially for S. Harper.

Wait, that’s too obvious. Let’s call him Stephen H.: A MINORITY GOVERNMENT IS NOT A MANDATE FOR ANYTHING. Also, just because you slip something about Senate reform into the platform you release a week before election day, and you happen to win, does not necessarily mean that anybody supports your vendetta against the Upper Chamber.

Or really anything else your government has done or will do.

OCTOBER 16, 2008

DIVERSIONS

WAR is here

19

BY RANO DAOUD (3L)

September saw the release of Mythic’s long-anticipated Massive Multiplayer Online game (MMO) Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR). After four years of development, a few delays, a takeover by EA and the loss of some content, WAR had one of the most successful launches of its genre. The servers are up with little downtime, there are no game-breaking bugs, and over half a million players registered in the first week.

But is the game actually good? Or is this just another MMO hype?

The problem with reviewing an MMO is that you either review it early and have not had the time to play the game properly, or you review it several months after release, when no one cares anymore. I’m going the first route, which means that this is only a “first glance” review.

WAR is based on the tabletop game Warhammer. Warhammer takes place in a fantasy setting, akin to that in Lord of the Rings. In Warhammer, there are over a dozen races, each with dozens of units, and all with their own allegiances. However, in the online game, due to manageability, there are six races and 20 classes.

Humans, High Elves and Dwarves have allied in the side of Order, while Chaos, Dark Elves and Greenskins (Orcs and Goblins) have allied in the side of Destruction. While the classes are quite different, they can all fall into one of four categories: tank, melee fighter, ranged fighter, and healer.

As with the tabletop game, WAR is incredibly rich in lore. In order to manage this, Mythic created a tool called the

Tome of Knowledge to keep track of it First, that the game actually starts at level all. The Tome records every quest you 1. By this, I mean you don’t have to kill have, every storyline you come across, rabbits for 10 hours before you are high every title you achieve and pretty much enough to participate in the game. Right everything you do or find in the game. It away, you are able to participate in Public allows you to read the story at your own Quests, open world, large-scale PVP (or pace, without having to stop and read it Realm vs. Realm (RvR), as Mythic likes in the middle of a quest, which could be to call it), and Scenarios. Once you hit an inconvenience to you and your group level 10, you can participate in keep – and you will want to be in a group. sieges.

This is a group-heavy game. While it While many people hate this, the inis entirely possible to level on your own, evitable comparison between WAR and you experience much more of the game World of Warcraft (WoW) must be made. if you either are in a guild, or regularly WoW, with 10 million subscribers, has group with people. Mythic has made this not only become the baseline by which easier with several additions. “Public all other MMOs are compared, but the Quests” are quests which you automati- inherent similarities of their Tolkiencally join by being in esque settings make it a certain area, along an obvious compariwith everyone else in son. When WoW was “A S WITH THE TABLETOP that same area. released, it revolutionGAME, WAR IS INCREDI“Open groups” is a ized MMOs. The setting which allows servers were fairly staBLY RICH IN LORE.” others to know how ble (by comparison), far away you are from quests were abundant them, and allows you to join automati- (which cut down on the “kill 500 buncally. “Scenarios” are smaller group bat- nies” grind), and there wasn’t any signiftles, in which the sides of Order and icant penalty for death. Its success is Destruction are pit against each other for largely attributed to being “casual objectives that last a maximum of 15 friendly”. Unfortunately, somewhere in minutes. the last four years, as people reached the The first thing you notice when you level cap, and with the release of an explay the game is that everything you do pansion, things started to change. Repuhelps you level. MMOs are normally tations marked the return of the grind. comprised of what seem like two differ- Emphasis on gear progression became ent games: levelling, which is 1-39 in this raids and arenas. Raids require mass cogame, and end game, which is everything ordination, requiring people to schedule that happens at level 40. The levelling in their lives based on when their guilds WAR is one of the best, for two reasons. raid. Arenas require perfect class com-

position to compete, forcing people to decide either to get better gear, or play with their friends. If you don’t participate in these two areas, there is simply too little gear progression, which reduces the incentive to keep playing.

WAR promises to change this in several ways. Part of WoW’s biggest problem is trying to balance the classes in small-scale PVP, large-scale PVP, 5 dungeons, and raid dungeons. WAR’s only balance concern is large-scale RvR. This reduces the frustration players have when their classes constantly change, and makes it easier for all classes to be useful in the parts of the game that matter most: large-scale battles. While many guilds will still have scheduled RvR raids, as a large number of people are required to siege a city; in open world RvR, anyone can join in at any time.

This isn’t to say that the game is perfect. The servers still need work, as the mail system takes far too long to load.

As a memory hog, the game also requires a decent machine to run, even though the graphics are not particularly great. The interface is not entirely user-friendly, and can take some time to get familiarized with. There are several interface bugs, though most of those can be solved with a simple restart of the game. As well, class balance still needs some work.

However, considering that these are my biggest complaints with an MMO that has only been out for a month, this game is shaping up to be one of my significant time sinks...articling should be interesting.

DIVERSIONS

20

ULTRA VIRES

Master of Taxation accelerate your career Equip yourself with the skills and experience needed to excel as a tax professional and jump start the next phase of your legal career.

Visit www.mtax.ca/ultr and discover for yourself why success starts at the top in Waterloo’s Master of Taxation program.

accountable

Bird, word

expert faculty

skills focused

flexible

Briefly Noted

downtown Toronto

Small firm boasts of “big firm” culture

U of T Law bucks JD trend, forms committee to consider readoption of LLB

Third-years offer useless OCI advice in condescending tone

-7% return on Scotiabank student loan outperforms stock market Answer questioned with another answer

OCIs come and go without anyone noticing

Blue Horseshoe Loves Anacot Steel

Flavelle House & Falconer Hall to be renamed Big Building & Small Building, respectively DLS agrees to represent failing US banks