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2 | ARCTIC OBITER 4th Floor, Diamond Plaza 5204 – 50 th Avenue P.O. Box 1298 Yellowknife, NT X1A 1E2 TEL: (867) 873-3828 FAX: (867) 873-6344 info@lawsociety.nt.ca www.lawsociety.nt.ca PRESIDENT Sheila MacPherson VICE-PRESIDENT Erin Delaney SECRETARY Cayley Thomas TREASURER Janice Walsh LAYPERSON Maureen Crotty Williams INSIDE 10 12 Redefining Justice by Ben Russo The Access-to-Justice Problem will be Resolved by Jordan Furlong P.O. Box 1985 Yellowknife, NT X1A 2P5 TEL: (867) 669-7739 FAX: (867) 873-6344 info@cba-nt.org www.cba.org/NorthWest PRESIDENT Elaine Keenan Bengts VICE PRESIDENT Malinda Kellett SECRETARY / TREASURER Jeannette Savoie PAST PRESIDENT Janice K. Walsh MEMBERS OF COUNCIL Betty Lou McIlmoyle Glen Rutland 3 President’s Message 4 CBA Bar Notes (from the President) 5 Executive Director’s Message 7 Membership News 16 NWT Legislative News 17 NWT Decision Digest 19 Supreme Court of Canada Update 22 Notices 23 Resources Sheldon Toner Caroline Wawzonek EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Linda Whitford linda.whitford@lawsociety.nt.ca DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS LEGAL EDUCATION COORDINATOR Ben Russo ben.russo@lawsociety.nt.ca ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Arlene Baker arlene.baker@lawsociety.nt.ca Arctic Obiter is a joint publication of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. It is published on a bi-monthly basis to keep lawyers practicing in the NWT informed of news, announcements, programs and activities. Comments, articles and photos for consideration can be submitted to Ben Russo. Past and current issues are available on the Law Society website. FROM THE EDITOR Domestic violence is a persistent problem and, unfortunately, the North is noticeably far from resolving this epidemic. We should all be celebrating at our desks, then, on the news of a Domestic <strong>Violence</strong> Treatment Option (DVTO) court in the NWT. The court introduces an alternative to a criminal justice system that has, in the past, been ineffective in this specific area. The alternative provides offenders with an option to be recognized as a mistake-prone person, as opposed to a “criminal”. It provides solutions for both the offender and the victim, and attempts to resolve the root problem(s), where the potential for reoffending exists. As well, the new court comes with a small, but comforting footnote for the public: The face of justice does, in fact, have a sympathetic ear. All lawyers should keep a close eye on this new project as it grows. While it currently only applies to domestic violence cases, we all know evolution of the court and justice systems is inevitable. - Ben
MARCH/APRIL 2011 | 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The Challenge of Self-Governing Greetings, and welcome back to the return of winter in the North! As mentioned in my last column, I was fortunate enough to attend the Federation of Law Societies Semi-Annual Conference in Banff, Alberta, from March 17th to 19th, 2011. I was accompanied by our Vice-President, Erin Delaney, our Council member, Lou Sebert, and Linda Whitford, our Executive Director and overall “guide” to all things Federation. In addition to addressing ongoing Federation business, such as dealing with a proposed amendment to the Code of Conduct addressing conflicts of interest, we had a lengthy workshop exploring different models for the regulation of lawyers. Presenters from England, Australia and Quebec spoke about their models in which government mandates and provides a form of oversight in the Sheila MacPherson regulation of lawyers and, in some cases, plays a role in the complaints process. England and Australia have both seen significant changes in the regulation of the legal profession in the past decade while, in Quebec, a strong government role in the regulation of lawyers, together with other professions, has existed for 38 years. We were joined by Dr. Paul Paton, a Professor of Law from the University of the Pacific, who has made the regulation of the legal professional one of his primary areas of study. I think it would be fair to say that when the workshop began, most Federation members had strong views in favour of maintaining the complete independence of our professional regulation. After debate and illustrations of the weaknesses of our stand-alone approach, most present agreed at the end of the conference that there were many challenges in our self-regulation including, not insignificantly, the topic of lawyers regulating lawyers. At a minimum, the workshop left participants with a much better idea of the work that we need to do as independent societies if we hope to continue self-regulating our profession. This includes becoming better at regulating competency and being more transparent in our discipline process. The Executive hopes to carry through with some of this work in a strategic planning session scheduled for the end of this month, which I will report on in my next column. Upcoming initiatives of the Executive include finalizing (we hope) the Territorial Mobility Protocol, currently scheduled to expire at the end of this year, arranging for a guest speaker for the President’s dinner, scheduled for September 24th, 2011 (more on that later), and hosting the 3rd bi-annual Intensive Trial Advocacy Program in Yellowknife, September 28th to October 1st, 2011. We will also be hosting the Federation of Law Societies Conference in Yellowknife next March, and plans for that are well underway. On a somber note, we lost one of our own when Justice Don Cooper passed away on March 28, 2011. The Law Society, in conjunction with the Courts, was fortunate to be able to host a retirement reception for Justice Cooper on March 9th. While quite ill at the time, Justice Cooper was able to speak with great eloquence and grace, not to mention humour, about the significant influences in his long and illustrious career. I know this event was important to Don and his family and I would like to think that this event brought home to all of us the value of friendship and mentoring, both hallmarks of Justice Cooper’s legacy. Our sympathies go out to Justice Cooper, his wife, Kathy Bentley and his four girls.
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