NEWS
Monday, August 31, 2015 13
Omnibus
Duffy
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of years ago, and most importantly, does not bode
well with a democracy. Furthermore, the absence of a
judge in the new citizenship stripping process makes
the process unfair, and likely unconstitutional. Bill
C-24 further impresses the idea of citizenship as
a privilege, not a right, where there are redefined
narratives of citizenship, and what it means to be
Canadian. This is important to note because while
they are ‘strengthening’ the citizenship process, the
image of the ideal Canadian is being formed to be
those without dual nationality; not to mention the
fact that the Bill has been widely criticized for its creation of a two-tier citizenship system.
The image of Canada as a multicultural place
accepting of those deemed as “others,” is quickly disappearing with Harper’s omnibus bills continuing to
mark marginalized communities. Consequently, the
Harper Government is using omnibus bills as a tool
to change the Canadian landscape and, even more
alarming, most of the public is not aware of the drastic changes being made which significantly alter what
it currently means to be Canadian. u
know that the law is not on their side, but they are
convinced that if they can find a lawyer who will tell
them that it is, then they can safely absolve themselves of any wrong-doing. Arguably, the only position more ethically problematic than the person who
seeks out such a lawyer is the lawyer who acquiesces
to such requests.
Nigel Wright, the former Chief of Staff for Prime
Minister Harper, is a University of Toronto and
Harvard Law-educated lawyer and is alleged to have
coordinated the transaction at the heart of this scandal – the payment of $90,000 to cover Mike Duffy’s
rejected Senate expenses. Although not acting in the
capacity of a lawyer, Mr. Wright certainly understood
what was happening.
Arthur Hamilton, lawyer to the Progressive Party
of Canada, is alleged to have been aware of the repayment plan and allegedly transferred $13,000 to help
cover Mr. Duffy’s legal expenses. Mr. Arthur is an
Osgoode alumnus.
Benjamin Perrin, the former legal counsel to the
Prime Minister’s Office, testified that he was told
by Mr. Wright of his plan to pay back Mr. Duffy’s
improper expenses. He was also involved in the negotiations with Mr. Duffy’s lawyers over the repayment
of those expenses. Mr. Perrin is a professor of law at
the University of British Columbia.
Janice Payne was the lawyer on the other side of
table. She was Mr. Duffy’s lawyer at the time and was
part of the negotiations.
Complaints were launched with the Law Societies
of Upper Canada and British Columbia against Mr.
Perrin and with the LSUC against Ms. Payne in 2013.
The complaints were dismissed in 2014, but the
University of Ottawa professor of law who launched
Sources
“It’s official – second class citizenship goes into
effect” British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
(3 June 2015) online: .
the complaints questions how thorough or earnest
the investigations could have been.
At least four lawyers were allegedly aware of a plan
to repay Mr. Duffy’s improperly claimed expenses
in order to mitigate the political cost of a scandal.
As those on the cusp of entering this profession, we
should pause and reflect on how these intelligent and
educated people became embroiled in such a scandal.
The pressure in the air at the highest echelons of
government must make it difficult to breathe; resisting the weight from the top must be extremely difficult, but whether the pressure was coming from a
senator or the Prime Minister, the decision to submit
to it was a conscious choice. Lawyers cannot simply
claim to be neutral conduits who merely do their
clients’ bidding. The LSUC Rules of Professional
Conduct preclude lawyers from hiding behind their
clients’ instructions. Moreover, the Criminal Code
of Canada makes it an offence to be a party to an
offence.
Lawyers do not trade in knowledge; lawyers trade
in judgment. When you advertise legal services, you
are selling your judgment and are required to exercise independent and critical thinking. When you tell
a client that they may skirt or subvert the law with
impunity, you do a disservice to the client and to the
entire justice system. u
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