SR Vol 27 No 3, July 2009 - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
SR Vol 27 No 3, July 2009 - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
SR Vol 27 No 3, July 2009 - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
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the<br />
SOCIETY<br />
RECORD<br />
VOLUME <strong>27</strong> | NO. 3 | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong><br />
NOVA SCOTIA<br />
BARRISTERS’ SOCIETY<br />
www.nsbs.org<br />
YOUTH & THE LAW<br />
Getting on top of the issues<br />
VISION, LEADERSHIP, EXCELLENCE – THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN NOVA<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong><br />
SCOTIA<br />
1
Forensic Engineering Services<br />
for Civil Litigation Lawyers<br />
Geotechnology Ltd. is a consulting engineering firm that provides forensic civil engineering, geotechnical, foundation<br />
and environmental engineering services to civil litigation lawyers and insurance personnel.<br />
Forensic Engineering Experience<br />
Geotechnology has 36 years engineering investigative experience in Atlantic Canada, western and northern Canada,<br />
offshore, and overseas in the UK, Australia and the Caribbean.<br />
We have investigated and determined the cause, and assisted in establishing fault, for the six main types of problems and<br />
damage experienced by buildings, civil engineering structures, and property: 1. Structural Collapse and Failure; 2.<br />
Architectural Finish; 3. Functional and Serviceability; 4. Hidden Damage; 5. Monetary Losses, Construction Delays and Cost<br />
Overruns; and, 6. Environmental Contamination.<br />
Engineering and environmental investigations have been completed for most types of civil engineering structures: Buildings;<br />
Bridges; Wharves and Harbour Works; Towers, Storage Tanks; Dams; Pipelines; Drainage Works; Embankments and<br />
Earthworks; Tunnels; Highways; and Motor Vehicle and Industrial Accidents.<br />
Professional Qualifications<br />
Eric Jorden, M.Sc., P.Eng., president of Geotechnology Ltd., has a Master’s degree in geotechnical and foundation<br />
engineering from the University of Birmingham, England. He has a first degree in civil engineering from the University of<br />
New Brunswick, and a diploma in land surveying from the College of Geographic Sciences, NS.<br />
Mr. Jorden writes impartial, unbiased reports and opinions based on the facts. His reports are clear, concise and easily<br />
understood by non-technical readers. He has published a number of engineering papers and co-authored a book on soils,<br />
groundwater and foundation investigation. Mr. Jorden has been qualified by the courts as an expert witness. He is credible<br />
and composed when giving expert testimony, and under cross-examination.<br />
Forensic Engineering Services<br />
(Case management follows project management principles to ensure thorough, cost effective forensic engineering<br />
investigations).<br />
1. Preliminary Forensic Engineering Services<br />
• Assess the technical strengths, weaknesses and merits of a claim for damages based on existing data and<br />
information. Outline the scope of a thorough investigation of the problem, if justified by the initial assessment.<br />
2. Main Forensic Engineering Services<br />
• Carry out field work and laboratory testing to investigate the cause of the problem, the damage to a building or<br />
civil engineering structure, or the reason for the contaminated soil and groundwater. Review engineering<br />
drawings, and applicable engineering and environmental regulations, codes and standards of good practice.<br />
• Analyze, interpret and evaluate the data and investigation findings. Develop conclusions and formulate opinion.<br />
• Determine the cause of the damage, or the reason for the contamination.<br />
• Recommend and design repair and remedial work. Evaluate repair and remedial costs.<br />
3. Additional Forensic Engineering Services<br />
• Assist counsel finalize evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the damage claim based on the findings of<br />
the forensic engineering investigation.<br />
• Help develop litigation strategy for discovery and trial; litigation support.<br />
• Develop lines of questioning for testimony and cross-examination, including questions not to ask.<br />
• Attend discovery and trial, assist counsel by listening to opposing witnesses and experts, identify flaws and errors,<br />
and the strengths and weaknesses of opposing testimony, develop additional lines of questioning.<br />
• Testify as an expert witness at discovery and trial<br />
• Review and audit engineering investigations and environmental assessments and reports by others; dispute resolution.<br />
More Information<br />
Contact Eric Jorden, M.Sc., P.Eng. at Geotechnology Ltd. for more information: Curriculum vitae;<br />
fees; publications and major reports; list of forensic engineering and major investigations; typical<br />
engineering investigations for design and construction, and environmental assessments for site<br />
remediation; professional activities; technical associations.<br />
Geotechnology Ltd.<br />
Forensic Engineers<br />
Civil, Geotechnical, Foundation and Environmental Engineers<br />
23 Roslyn Dr., Dartmouth, <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>, Canada B2W 2M2<br />
Tel: (902) 435-4939<br />
Fax: (902) 435-5840<br />
E-mail: ejorden@eastlink.ca<br />
Eric Jorden, M.Sc., P.Eng.<br />
Forensic Engineer<br />
Consulting<br />
Professional Engineer<br />
2 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
Contents<br />
VOLUME <strong>27</strong> | NO.3 | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong><br />
4 A <strong>No</strong>te from the Editor<br />
5 The President’s View<br />
6 Briefs<br />
12 <strong>Society</strong> News<br />
15 Accolades – a new column from the Gender Equity Committee<br />
the<br />
<strong>Society</strong><br />
Record<br />
is published four times<br />
annually by the<br />
<strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong><br />
Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong><br />
Suite 1101-1645<br />
Granville Street<br />
Halifax, NS B3J 1X3<br />
(902) 422-1491<br />
Copyright ©<strong>2009</strong><br />
Mailed under<br />
Canada Post<br />
publications agreement<br />
number 40069255<br />
Return undeliverable<br />
Canadian addresses to:<br />
Publications<br />
Administrator,<br />
<strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong><br />
Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong><br />
Suite 1101,<br />
1645 Granville Street<br />
Halifax NS B3J 1X3<br />
lneily@nsbs.org<br />
17 Children: our future leaders and educators – Tilly Pillay QC<br />
18 A great big gaping hole – donalee Moulton<br />
20 Thoughts from a new lawyer – Jacqueline Twohig<br />
Pullout section — <strong>Vol</strong>. 34, <strong>No</strong>. 3 <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Law News<br />
21 LIANS<br />
22 Safeguarding the rights of young people – Jennifer Stewart<br />
24 A meeting of minds – Marla Cranston<br />
28 Youth Work That Works – Emma Halpern, LaMeia Reddick<br />
30 Kudos – Sarah Bradfield<br />
32 You be the judge – Rickcola Slawter, Sandra Bell<br />
37 Summation: Restorative practices in the classroom – Terry Bartlett-Visser<br />
inside<br />
Editor:<br />
Marla Cranston<br />
mcranston@nsbs.org<br />
page 6 page 24 page 30<br />
Graphic Design:<br />
Lisa Neily<br />
lneily@nsbs.org<br />
NOVA SCOTIA<br />
BARRISTERS’<br />
SOCIETY<br />
www.nsbs.org<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 3
Gus Richardson is pleased to offer his services<br />
as an arbitrator, mediator and appellate lawyer<br />
in his new practice, Ad+Rem ADR Services.<br />
With over 20 years litigation experience at all<br />
levels of courts in <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> and Ontario,<br />
Gus is also a Small Claims Court adjudicator.<br />
Gus brings those skills to his practice as<br />
an arbitrator and mediator in labour,<br />
insurance, personal injury, commercial<br />
and condominium disputes.<br />
phone 902.422.6729<br />
email gus@gusrichardson.com<br />
www.gusrichardson.com<br />
This special edition scratches the surface of youth justice issues.<br />
We hope it piques your interest to learn more, as the <strong>Society</strong><br />
increasingly engages with young people across the province. If<br />
lawyers, judges and public servants better understand their needs<br />
and concerns in this era of rapid change, it can only strengthen<br />
the administration of justice, fix gaps and improve opportunities<br />
for the next generation.<br />
The Nunn Commission’s recommendations are taking root, with<br />
new prosecutors dedicated solely to youth court matters and the<br />
<strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Child and Youth Strategy picking up steam in its<br />
second year (read “Our Kids are Worth It,” the progress report at<br />
gov.ns.ca/coms). Renowned local experts Stan Kutcher, Michael<br />
Ungar and others are leading the way in youth research.<br />
Including young voices in the conversation is vital – “if it’s about<br />
us, don’t do it without us,” says it all.<br />
Marla Cranston<br />
Editor, <strong>Society</strong> Record, Communications Officer<br />
4 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
the<br />
president’s<br />
view<br />
This is my first chance to communicate with you as president<br />
of the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong>. I am humbled by the<br />
opportunity and look forward to an interesting year ahead.<br />
A bit of my background: I was admitted to the Bar in 1974 and<br />
joined Patterson, Smith, Matthews & Grant (predecessor to<br />
Patterson Law) in Truro. I started out in litigation but within two<br />
years, made the shift to our real estate group and my practice<br />
has had a focus in real estate ever since.<br />
My wife Valerie is from Sydney and we have four children: Ian,<br />
26, Tracey, who would be 24 (she passed away a number of years<br />
ago), Erin, 20, and John, 16. We live in the beautiful community<br />
of Tatamagouche.<br />
The thought of running for president was the farthest thing from<br />
my mind when I was approached by the three previous presidents,<br />
Phil Star, Cathy Walker and Joel Pink. The pitch: it takes a lot of<br />
time but it is very rewarding working with a great group of fellow<br />
Council and committee members and an exceptional staff to<br />
improve our profession. Their statements could not have been<br />
more accurate.<br />
This being an election year, I want to thank those Council<br />
members who completed their terms for giving so unselfishly<br />
of their time. I also welcome the returning and newly elected<br />
members and look forward to working with you, as we tackle<br />
together the issues facing the regulation of the legal profession.<br />
Over the past three years, Council made a considerable effort<br />
to develop a governance framework that improves the way it<br />
functions in regulating the practice of law in the public interest.<br />
We have established our vision, values, strategic directions,<br />
12-month activity plan and governance policies that define how<br />
we operate as a <strong>Society</strong>. Last year, a task force looked at Council’s<br />
composition and subject to government approval of changes to<br />
the Legal Profession Act, in the 2011 election year, Council will<br />
reduce from 35 to 21 members. This year, a new task force will<br />
review our committee structure.<br />
While the list of other priorities is long, here are a few initiatives<br />
under our approved Strategic Directions:<br />
(1) Enhancing lawyer competence: The <strong>Society</strong> will determine<br />
its proper role in assessing lawyers’ continuing competence<br />
and ensuring they understand their own requirements.<br />
(2) Access to justice: Through continuing and improved<br />
dialogue with government, there is a process to address<br />
broad issues of access to justice for <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>ns.<br />
(3) Effective governance: The <strong>Society</strong> ensures effective<br />
communications and liaison with relevant stakeholders,<br />
such as the CBA, AJEFNE, LIANS and other organizations<br />
and communities relating to the administration of justice<br />
and governance of the legal profession.<br />
(4) Impact on the administration of justice: The <strong>Society</strong><br />
enhances member and public communications and ensures<br />
its role with government is appropriate to the <strong>Society</strong>’s<br />
purpose.<br />
This edition of the <strong>Society</strong> Record focuses on “youth.” We held<br />
our May Council meeting at Auburn Drive High School, in a<br />
tremendous opportunity to meet with students and hear their<br />
concerns related to the legal profession and justice system. The<br />
ability and interest of these young people was an inspiration<br />
to Council. The <strong>Society</strong> also offers “UnCommon Law,” which<br />
brings together youth, judges, police officers, social workers and<br />
lawyers in an annual forum for dialogue and exchanging ideas.<br />
These opportunities to connect with the leaders of tomorrow are<br />
invaluable to the <strong>Society</strong> as we shape the future direction of the<br />
regulation of the legal profession.<br />
In closing, I want to encourage two-way communication with<br />
our members, whether through meetings with County Bar<br />
Associations, larger firms or questions raised by you. I encourage<br />
anyone to contact me through the <strong>Society</strong> office. I will do my best<br />
to react appropriately to your concerns.<br />
Ron Creighton QC<br />
President<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 5
BRIEFS<br />
Admissions Ceremony <strong>2009</strong> – Friday, June 12, Pier 21, Halifax<br />
Fifty-nine people joined <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>’s legal profession on June 12, in a new approach to the <strong>Society</strong>’s Bar Admission Ceremony.<br />
Held for the first time outside an actual courtroom, the event in Pier 21’s spacious Kenneth C. Rowe Heritage Hall allowed all June<br />
applicants to witness their colleagues called to the Bar at the same time, unlike much smaller ceremonies of the past.<br />
Then President, Joel E. Pink QC (left), and new President J. Ronald Creighton QC (right) welcome <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>’s newest lawyers to the profession.<br />
Glenda Thompson signs the Roll of Lawyers alongside Prothonotary<br />
Annette Boucher QC.<br />
New calls make their official declarations, with Justice Walter R. E.<br />
Goodfellow presiding.<br />
6 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
BRIEFS<br />
Annual Meeting <strong>2009</strong> – June 19-20, Inverary Inn, Baddeck<br />
The <strong>2009</strong> Annual Meeting probed the practicalities of a serious theme: “The Business of Law During Times of Uncertainty,” finding<br />
room for opportunity and good news amid the challenges of the new economic reality. Gerald J. McConnell QC, of Etruscan Resources<br />
Inc., tackled the topic in his keynote address, while panels explored everything from succession planning, stress management and<br />
bankruptcy to fraud in the current global context. The mood stayed light with a number of leisure activities, such as a sunrise hike<br />
led by new President Ron Creighton QC, culinary demonstrations and a riveting performance by Cape Breton’s own Raylene Rankin.<br />
(Photos by Murdock Smith)<br />
Singer/entertainer Raylene Rankin<br />
(L-R) Past Presidents Phil Star QC, Joel Pink QC, Catherine Walker QC and Ron MacDonald QC<br />
with new President Ron Creighton QC (centre).<br />
Council working session<br />
Charles MacIntosh QC with his wife, receiving a<br />
Certificate of Appreciation for his long-standing<br />
commitment to the NSBS Annual Meeting.<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 7
BRIEFS<br />
D I S T I N G U I S H E D F I N A L E S<br />
House of Assembly loses esteemed Assistant Clerk<br />
The passing of Arthur G.<br />
H. Fordham QC is a great loss<br />
to the province. He was highly<br />
respected by premiers and other<br />
members of the Legislative Assembly<br />
past and present. When<br />
he died suddenly on May 4 at<br />
age 72, he was Assistant Clerk of<br />
the House of Assembly.<br />
His official role was to sit on the<br />
floor of the House when it was<br />
in session and maintain the official<br />
record of proceedings. Art also provided procedural advice<br />
to the Speaker of the House and individual members, and wrote<br />
An Overview of the Procedures and Practices of the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong><br />
Legislature.<br />
Upon graduating from Dalhousie Law School in 1961, Art initially<br />
practiced with the law firm now known as Stewart McKelvey<br />
and was widely known in his preferred area of practice: real<br />
property law. In the provincial public service, he first served as<br />
a lawyer in the Department of the Attorney General and advisor<br />
to the Provincial Tax Commission. Then in the Legislative Counsel<br />
Office, he participated in the preparation of legislation for<br />
20 years. Completely non-partisan throughout his public service<br />
career, Art was also appointed part-time Assistant Chief Electoral<br />
Officer.<br />
He earned the respect of colleagues across the country through<br />
participation in the Uniform Law Conference of Canada, the<br />
Canadian Election Officers Conference and the Canadian Parliamentary<br />
Association. He was a lay minister of the Cathedral<br />
Church of All Saints, and was also a strong supporter of organizations<br />
that promote music in our community, such as the<br />
Maritime Conservatory and Symphony <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>.<br />
– excerpted from Judge Bill MacDonald’s InForum tribute<br />
On to new challenges, from law to health<br />
Deborah Rozee departed for a new post in April,<br />
after many years of dedication and service as director of the Lawyers’<br />
Insurance Association of <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> (LIANS). She is now<br />
the CEO of the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Health Organizations Protective Association.<br />
“Under Deborah’s leadership, LIANS has become one of the<br />
best law society-owned insurance programs in the country. We<br />
are on sound financial footing with the program, thanks to her<br />
steady navigation and direction,” Executive Director Darrel Pink<br />
said at her sendoff.<br />
An executive search is underway. Geraldine O’Shea, who has<br />
agreed to serve as acting director, provides extensive experience<br />
as longtime claims counsel for LIANS, which administers the<br />
mandatory professional liability insurance program for lawyers<br />
across the province.<br />
8 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
BRIEFS<br />
Cocktails & Conversations with the judges<br />
The second time’s a charm! It’s official – the Gender Equity Committee’s event, “Cocktails and Conversations: Your Happiest<br />
Hour in Front of a Judge” is a big hit among female members of the <strong>Society</strong>. The first one in 2008 prompted many requests to make it<br />
an annual highlight for women lawyers and judges. As a result, the most recent event was fully booked at the Halifax Club on June 4,<br />
<strong>2009</strong>, with more than 100 in attendance. The evening included refreshments, socializing and frank discussion, as participants shared<br />
their experiences in the legal profession.<br />
Guest speaker Justice Deborah Gass<br />
(L-R) Judge Pamela S. Williams with women lawyers for “Cocktails and Conversation”<br />
Honouring innovative efforts to reduce crime across the province<br />
More than 200 delegates took part in <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>’s first crime prevention symposium, held in April at The Westin <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>n,<br />
with a special spotlight on youth initiatives. The Minister’s Awards for Leadership in Crime Prevention honoured eight people or<br />
organizations from across the province, chosen from 43 nominations. Youth Award winner Rebecca Moore of Halifax is active in<br />
YouthScape, the Kitpu Youth Centre, Phoenix Youth Programs and In My Own Voice. Also recognized were the Eastern Communities<br />
Youth Association in Canso, Cpl. Grant Webber of the RCMP Queens detachment (Cops for Kids), Paula Marshall of the Mi’Kmaw<br />
Legal Support Network in Eskasoni and others.<br />
Panel discussion on crime prevention<br />
Then-Minister of Justice Cecil Clarke and Rebecca Moore<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 9
BRIEFS<br />
New <strong>Society</strong> Leadership<br />
On June 20, the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Barristers’<br />
<strong>Society</strong> welcomed its new Council,<br />
which is now helmed by President J.<br />
Ronald Creighton QC (centre) of Tatamagouche.<br />
Joining him as officers are new<br />
First Vice-President Marjorie A. Hickey<br />
QC and Second Vice-President Daniel M.<br />
Campbell QC, both of Halifax.<br />
First winning Race and the Law essay reveals lessons from history<br />
Dalhousie Law student inspired by a poem<br />
David Steeves was a first-year law student at<br />
Dalhousie University when he stumbled upon details about<br />
an unsettling Halifax murder case that would later inspire his<br />
academic research.<br />
The poem “1933,” in George Elliott Clarke’s book Execution<br />
Poems, mentions Daniel Sampson, an African-<strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>n<br />
veteran of the Great War. Sampson had been arrested and tried<br />
in the mysterious 1933 deaths of two young brothers whose<br />
bodies were found near railway tracks on the outskirts of Halifax.<br />
The coroner’s inquest was inconclusive, and some believed<br />
Edward and Bramwell Heffernan could have died in a tragic<br />
misadventure with a passing train. Even so, Sampson faced two<br />
sets of trials and appeals in <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>, in a notorious case that<br />
went to the Supreme Court of Canada.<br />
“It wasn’t until several years after reading the poem that I really<br />
became interested in the case,” says Steeves, recipient of the<br />
inaugural Race and the Law Essay Prize, awarded in June by the<br />
Race Relations Committee of the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong><br />
and sponsored by the law firm Stewart McKelvey.<br />
By then into his graduate studies, he had arranged for Dr. Clarke<br />
– who earned the Governor General’s Literary Award for his<br />
poetry book – to visit the<br />
law school and read from<br />
his new novel. Logistically,<br />
the only way the event<br />
would work was if Steeves<br />
drove to Mount Allison<br />
University to pick up the<br />
author, a visiting scholar<br />
there at the time, and drive<br />
him back again that night.<br />
“Shortly after leaving<br />
Sackville, we started<br />
discussing the Sampson<br />
case and came back to it<br />
several times on both the<br />
David Steeves<br />
drive down and the drive<br />
back,” Steeves recalls. “The next day I looked up the trial and<br />
appellate decisions and came upon a comment by Sampson’s<br />
lawyer that turned my attention to not only jury selection in this<br />
case but in <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> generally at the time. Once I started<br />
going through the archival material as well as the relevant<br />
legislation, I knew this was a really interesting case that might<br />
have something more important to say.”<br />
10 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
BRIEFS<br />
Steeves’ ensuing critical examination illustrates Halifax’s response<br />
to crime during a period of social and economic upheaval,<br />
highlighting issues surrounding “the distorted portrayal of<br />
African-Canadian criminality,” he says. It’s also the first research<br />
to examine significant changes in the practice of jury challenges<br />
in Canada during the early 20 th century. But more specifically, it<br />
reveals “a very troubling practice in jury selection that affected<br />
most, if not all, jury trials of African-<strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>ns in Halifax,<br />
well into the middle of the century,” he says.<br />
The historical issues are worthy of reflection today, by lawyers<br />
generally and criminal law practitioners in particular.<br />
“Legal history not only examines what the law was but it helps<br />
us understand how and why the law has changed over time,”<br />
says Steeves.<br />
The <strong>Society</strong>’s Race Relations Committee (RRC) agreed – selecting<br />
Steeves for his submission, titled “Maniacal Murderer or Death<br />
Dealing Car: The Case of Daniel Perry Sampson 1933-1935.” It<br />
will appear in the first collection of essays on African-Canadians<br />
and the law, to be published in 2010 by the Osgoode <strong>Society</strong> for<br />
Canadian Legal History.<br />
“I’m glad that more people will hopefully be able to learn about<br />
the case when it appears,” says Steeves, who is “honoured” by<br />
the award and extends special thanks to Clarke (U of T) and<br />
Professors Blake Brown (SMU) and Philip Girard (Dal), “for their<br />
generous comments during the composition of the paper.”<br />
John Rogers QC, Stewart McKelvey, presents the new award to Professor<br />
Michelle Williams-Lorde, who accepted on behalf of David Steeves.<br />
The 33-year-old lawyer, a member of the Bar in both <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong><br />
and Alberta, recently moved to Toronto and is developing further<br />
work for publication. He graduated from Dalhousie in May with a<br />
Master of Laws degree. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree<br />
from Dal and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and<br />
history from Mount Allison University.<br />
Essays with impact<br />
The new Race and the Law Paper Prize was created<br />
to recognize and encourage outstanding scholarship focusing<br />
on issues of race and law, says Bedford lawyer Barbara Darby.<br />
“We’re delighted that this new initiative provides students with<br />
an opportunity to have their work read by members of the <strong>No</strong>va<br />
<strong>Scotia</strong> Bar,” says Darby, extending thanks on behalf of the RRC’s<br />
paper prize subcommittee to all students who submitted work<br />
for consideration.<br />
“During our evaluation process, the committee members were<br />
most impressed by the calibre and quality of the papers. Each<br />
one offered readers an opportunity to learn something new.”<br />
David Steeves’ essay was a fitting choice for the first annual<br />
award, she adds: “His account of an important moment in <strong>No</strong>va<br />
<strong>Scotia</strong>n legal and social history—one likely unfamiliar to most<br />
readers—was both educational and frankly, quite gripping!”<br />
For his part, Steeves is hopeful that the winning papers will be<br />
circulated widely to generate further education and discussion.<br />
“Students at Dalhousie Law School have been doing important<br />
work on issues relating to race and the law for many years, and<br />
will certainly continue to do so,” he says.<br />
“What this award will do, I hope, is challenge students who<br />
normally might not be interested in this area of scholarship to<br />
consider how issues of race have impacted, and continue to<br />
impact, the practice and study of law. This may result in more<br />
papers being written but, more importantly, it will open up a<br />
wider conversation about race among students at the law school,<br />
the Bar, the Bench and the public.”<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 11
society<br />
news<br />
Admissions & Professional Development<br />
Finance & Administration<br />
Many opinions are expressed about the need for<br />
continuing professional development and mandatory legal<br />
education; the issues have been exhaustively studied throughout<br />
the world.<br />
The <strong>Society</strong> has a responsibility to ensure that lawyers are<br />
competent. We exercise it in the most effective and appropriate<br />
way possible, making every effort to consider both the public<br />
interest and the needs of the profession, and avoiding heavyhanded<br />
or bureaucratic approaches that have failed elsewhere.<br />
The Continuing Competency Task Force has determined that<br />
our jurisdiction is best served by a combination of educational<br />
initiatives to ensure and enhance member competence. In order<br />
to satisfy the public interest, we track what lawyers are doing<br />
in terms of education and we create mandatory education from<br />
time to time, especially when an area of practice is changing<br />
substantially as in the implementation of the Land Registration<br />
Act or new Civil Procedure Rules.<br />
The <strong>Society</strong> also institutes mandatory education or testing<br />
(when the need arises) in the area of practice management;<br />
most recently by implementing a mandatory testing requirement<br />
for anyone wanting to open a new trust account. To date, we<br />
have not seen the need to or the benefit of requiring lawyers to<br />
prove they have taken a number of hours of approved education.<br />
All lawyers in <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> are asked to report their educational<br />
efforts in their Annual Members Report, and the <strong>Society</strong> has<br />
a recommended number of hours of self-study and formal<br />
education for maintaining competence.<br />
One of the key privileges of a career in law is the opportunity for<br />
lifelong learning. As we all know, each case and every client pose<br />
new questions and challenges. The law and legal practice are<br />
always changing and part of our responsibility as lawyers is to<br />
keep up. We must constantly challenge ourselves to see change,<br />
including new information and technology, as opportunity and<br />
embrace it to strengthen our knowledge and abilities.<br />
It is the <strong>Society</strong>’s responsibility to ensure lawyers are meeting<br />
the high standards we create and promote, which are always<br />
directed towards enhancing competence, thereby improving<br />
career satisfaction and service to the public and the profession<br />
as a whole. Across Canada, the public is beginning to demand<br />
that lawyers, like other professionals, continue engaging in<br />
formal education throughout their careers. Our job, and our<br />
passion, is around making that education as useful, interactive<br />
and enjoyable as we possibly can.<br />
The <strong>Society</strong>’s <strong>2009</strong> Annual Report is now posted on<br />
our website at www.nsbs.org/annualReport.php, with detailed<br />
financial reports and department and committee updates.<br />
The <strong>Society</strong> ended fiscal <strong>2009</strong> with a surplus (before budgeted<br />
transfers) of $59,099 in the unrestricted General Fund and a<br />
deficit of $2<strong>27</strong>,283 in the Restricted Lawyers’ Fund for Client<br />
Compensation, for a combined deficit of $168,184. Of the net<br />
surplus in the General Fund, $26,119 was the result of normal<br />
operations and $32,980 was the result of Discipline repayments<br />
received during the year. Total revenue was $17,104 greater than<br />
budget and total operating expenses were $168,011 greater than<br />
budget for the year. The total unrestricted reserves of the General<br />
Fund were $3<strong>27</strong>,482 at April 30, <strong>2009</strong>.<br />
Revenue<br />
Fees revenue for practising and nonpractising members<br />
exceeded the budget by $9,921, as a result of more membership<br />
growth than budgeted. Revenue for Admissions and Professional<br />
Development (A&PD) was $108,059 more than plan. Total Library<br />
Revenue was below budget by $29,517. Draws from deferred<br />
grant funds were $22,871 less than plan. Realized Investment<br />
Income at $81,986 was below the budget by $21,192. The rate of<br />
return was lower than budgeted.<br />
Expenditures<br />
Professional Responsibility expenses at $1,362,089 were $375,311<br />
higher than budget and $447,130 higher than last year. One significant<br />
file arguably created the bulk of this budgetary variance,<br />
with costs incurred in Investigations and Spot Audits. Reported<br />
A&PD expenses were $73,014 less than budget. The Futures<br />
Project, a new program in <strong>2009</strong>, was budgeted to $100,000 but<br />
only $58,187 was spent, with the remainder ($41,813) set aside<br />
to fund this initiative in fiscal 2010. Standards Development, a<br />
new program for 2008, was also budgeted at $100,000. In 2008<br />
and <strong>2009</strong>, a total of $33,709 was spent and the balance is in an<br />
internally restricted reserve to continue funding this initiative.<br />
Interim staff changes for summer<br />
Executive Director Darrel Pink is on leave from <strong>July</strong> until September,<br />
and again from February to April 2010, to be a consultant to<br />
the Tanganyika Law <strong>Society</strong> in Tanzania. Professional Responsibility<br />
Director Victoria Rees, a 20-year employee of the <strong>Society</strong> with<br />
a broad range of skills and experience, serves as acting executive<br />
director during both leaves of absence. The <strong>Society</strong> will be fully<br />
reimbursed for Mr. Pink’s salary and benefits for the time that he<br />
is away. Building a relationship between the two law societies is<br />
expected to have long-term benefits for both organizations.<br />
12 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
society<br />
news<br />
Library & Information Services<br />
Professional Responsibility<br />
In legal research parlance, secondary sources are<br />
those tools – including textbooks, encyclopedias, digests and<br />
periodical articles – that provide commentary or act as a finding<br />
aid to the primary sources of law. Secondary Sources is also the<br />
name given to the online tool created by the staff at Library &<br />
Information Services (L&IS) to provide members with access to<br />
a wide range of <strong>Society</strong>-related material.<br />
Our Secondary Sources tool is available to members and the<br />
public through the “Library” section of the <strong>Society</strong>’s website.<br />
The material in Secondary Sources includes papers presented<br />
at conferences organized by the Admissions & Professional<br />
Development department and the now-defunct Continuing<br />
Legal Education <strong>Society</strong> of <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>. Secondary Sources also<br />
includes articles published in The <strong>Society</strong> Record, the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong><br />
Law News, InForum and some unpublished material written by<br />
members of the profession.<br />
Interestingly, the Secondary Sources tool was created because<br />
of numerous requests for the late Arthur Fordham’s paper on<br />
easements, presented at the <strong>Society</strong>’s real property conference in<br />
1987. Posting this type of information online makes it accessible<br />
with just a few clicks of the mouse, in keeping with L&IS’s efforts<br />
to deliver as much information as possible directly to members at<br />
their desktops. Other benefits to posting this information online<br />
include the ability to search for material by author, title, subject,<br />
date, conference program name and/or keywords appearing in<br />
the full text of the article. Also, searches of Secondary Sources<br />
can be limited by type of publication, which is particularly helpful<br />
for members who only want to search for articles appearing<br />
in The <strong>Society</strong> Record or perhaps just those papers presented<br />
at conferences organized by the Admissions & Professional<br />
Development department.<br />
L&IS has created a special search screen for members who simply<br />
want to browse for papers and articles by practice area. Accessible<br />
through the “Professional Development” section of the <strong>Society</strong>’s<br />
website, this search screen lists papers and articles by practice<br />
area and includes sections for corporate/commercial law, criminal<br />
law, family law, real estate law, and wills and estates law.<br />
L&IS staff post the articles and papers online in PDF format as<br />
soon as possible after the <strong>Society</strong>-sponsored conference is held<br />
or the publication is released. To learn more about Secondary<br />
Sources or any of the other online tools created by L&IS, contact<br />
staff by telephoning 1-866-219-1202 (toll-free) or 425-BOOK<br />
(2665), or by sending an email to nsbslib@nsbs.org.<br />
The Professional Responsibility Department<br />
regularly receives calls from members seeking guidance with<br />
regard to ethical dilemmas they have encountered. In some<br />
cases, the issues raised are of such a nature that staff determines<br />
input from the chair of the Ethics and Professional Responsibility<br />
Committee will be of value. Staff then summarizes the inquiry<br />
on a no-names basis. The chair considers it and may convene a<br />
quorum of the committee via email or teleconference to provide<br />
guidance. In those circumstances, staff circulates the summary<br />
with a request for the committee’s input.<br />
One committee member likened the process to a fast food drivethrough<br />
– place your ethics inquiry at the order window, then<br />
pull up to receive your advice at the pick-up window! While this<br />
service is, we hope, of better quality than some of our favourite<br />
fast food, the analogy seems to fit. We do our best to provide<br />
the most efficient and thorough advice possible in an effort to<br />
assist our members in exercising their professional judgment<br />
on a given issue.<br />
The calls we receive cover many topics, such as optional<br />
versus obligatory withdrawal, protection of a client’s property<br />
and confidentiality. The most frequent type of call involves<br />
potential conflict of interest, either between clients or lawyer<br />
and client. These are rarely straightforward questions, as<br />
conflicts are generally fraught with shades of gray, which is why<br />
the committee’s guidance can be so helpful. We also assist<br />
members with such serious conundrums as how to deal with<br />
threatening or harassing clients or opposing parties, disputes<br />
over funds held in trust, theft of client files and records, and<br />
conflicting duties respecting in-house counsel. Very often if<br />
members are uncertain about their obligations in a particular<br />
situation, the committee will respond quite strongly in a unified<br />
position. While not binding on a member, who is still expected<br />
to exercise his or her own professional judgment, their opinion<br />
can be very instructional.<br />
Members have indicated they appreciate receiving guidance<br />
from the committee as a whole, as well as the committee’s<br />
thoughtful and timely responses to each inquiry. The department<br />
also disseminates highlights of staff and EPRC ethics advice for<br />
the benefit of educating all members. We encourage members<br />
to call the <strong>Society</strong>’s Professional Responsibility counsel with<br />
any ethics questions or concerns. We are very fortunate to have<br />
access to an excellent resource library and committee members<br />
who provide valuable insight, experience and skill in considering<br />
ethical dilemmas.<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 13
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14 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
ACCOLADES<br />
Brenda Pate, Janet Stevenson, Lyndsay Jardine, Janice Beaton, and Jennifer Biernaskie<br />
Frances Fish Lawyers’ Achievement Award Committee<br />
On September 10, 1918, Frances Lillian Fish became the first<br />
woman admitted to the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Bar. She had completed<br />
her LLB at Dalhousie Law School a few months earlier as<br />
the first female graduate. That’s reason to celebrate and since 1997,<br />
that’s exactly what a group of women lawyers have made sure we do!<br />
The <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) is a<br />
non-profit women’s organization that promotes equal rights for all<br />
women through legal education, research and law reform advocacy.<br />
Members include lawyers, academics, students and others who<br />
support its goals and objectives.<br />
Every two years, NAWL co-sponsors the Frances Fish Award Dinner<br />
with the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong>. The Frances Fish Women<br />
Lawyers’ Achievement Award honours and celebrates outstanding<br />
lawyers who have achieved excellence in their area of focus or in<br />
the community, and who have demonstrated a commitment to the<br />
advancement of women’s equality in or through the legal profession.<br />
In this “Accolades” column, the <strong>Society</strong> acknowledges the work of all<br />
women who have served on the organizing committee of the Frances<br />
Fish Award Dinner. Membership changes from time to time and most<br />
recently, the women on the committee for the 2007 event were:<br />
Andrea Baldwin<br />
Janice Beaton<br />
Jennifer Biernaskie<br />
Heather Burchill<br />
Catherine Craig<br />
Sherida Hassanali<br />
Lyndsay Jardine<br />
Barbara Kerr<br />
Janine Kerr<br />
Catherine Meade<br />
Brenda Pate<br />
Heidi Schedler<br />
Janet Stevenson<br />
Maggie Stewart<br />
The next award presentation is well into the planning stages<br />
and will take place at a ceremony and dinner in October. Recent<br />
participants have noted how serving on<br />
the organizing committee has been a<br />
rewarding experience for them:<br />
Lara Morris<br />
<strong>No</strong>n-practising lawyer<br />
“This committee is a wonderful way for a junior lawyer to<br />
make connections with senior practitioners. It is also a great<br />
opportunity to reflect on the particular skills that women bring to<br />
this profession and to celebrate the impact we have had on what<br />
it means to be a successful lawyer.” – Jennifer Biernaskie, McInnes<br />
Cooper<br />
”<strong>Vol</strong>unteering with the Frances Fish Organizing Committee<br />
has been a very rewarding experience for me. <strong>No</strong>t only do I get<br />
to be involved in one of the most enjoyable events in the legal<br />
community, but I also get to meet and work with some of the<br />
brightest and most inspiring women at the Bar. Being a part of<br />
something that honours and rewards the contributions of such<br />
dynamic and committed women in <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> is amazing.”<br />
– Heidi Schedler, NS Department of Justice<br />
“The event itself provides a rare opportunity to publicly and<br />
positively recognize lawyers in general and women lawyers in<br />
particular as well as a rare occasion for the legal community to<br />
interact collegially, so I am very proud to be a part of a team<br />
which produces it.” – Brenda Pate, Barrister & Solicitor, Bedford<br />
Congratulations to all committee members, past and present, on a<br />
job well done.<br />
We welcome your submission to Accolades! In each column we will<br />
showcase a different lawyer, firm, group or association to recognize how<br />
they are effecting change in the profession. Feel free to contact a member<br />
of the Gender Equity Committee or Equity Officer Emma Halpern at<br />
equity@nsbs.org to discuss your submission.<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 15
The 7th Annual Pride Reception<br />
You are cordially invited to come celebrate with us at the 7th Annual<br />
Pride Reception, co-hosted by the SOGI (Sexual Orientation & Gender<br />
Identity) Section of the CBA-NS and the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong>.<br />
Kenneth J. Upton, Jr., Supervising Senior Staff Attorney with Lambda Legal,<br />
will be joining us from Texas to speak about his experiences. Lambda<br />
Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to<br />
achieving full recognition of the civil rights of members of the lesbian, gay,<br />
bisexual and transgendered community, and people living with HIV. Mr.<br />
Upton has more than 20 years trial and appellate experience. He was cocounsel<br />
in Varnum v. Brien, in which the April, <strong>2009</strong>, decision made Iowa<br />
the third American State to mandate same-sex marriage.<br />
The Pride Reception will be on Thursday, <strong>July</strong> 23, <strong>2009</strong>, 4:00 – 6:00 pm,<br />
at the Continuing Professional Development Centre of the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong><br />
Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong>, 1645 Granville Street (4th Floor), Halifax.<br />
This event is an opportunity to celebrate diversity within our profession<br />
and to show our support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered<br />
lawyers throughout <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>.<br />
RSVP by Monday, <strong>July</strong> 20, <strong>2009</strong>, to Emma Halpern at ehalpern@nsbs.org<br />
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16 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
Children: Our future leaders and educators<br />
Children: Our future leaders and educators<br />
Tilly Pillay QC<br />
<strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Department of Justice<br />
Children. Conflict. These<br />
are two words that don’t<br />
belong together. And yet,<br />
many children in this<br />
world face conflict on a daily basis. Some are caught in the midst<br />
of the emotional and physical conflict of their separating parents;<br />
others are caught in the turmoil of external events, such as war. In all<br />
instances, they are at risk of harm.<br />
I was born in South Africa under the apartheid regime. I experienced<br />
racial conflict first-hand. However, I was fortunate. My father moved our<br />
family to Canada when I was still quite young. He didn’t want his children<br />
to experience what he had known growing up as a member of a visible<br />
minority in South Africa. Other children do not have this option.<br />
We all read the newspapers and watch television. We know that<br />
many children live in the midst of poverty and violence, both close<br />
to home and abroad. Some of us respond by contributing to charities<br />
and volunteering our time to help the less fortunate. Others are<br />
actively involved in organizations that protect the vulnerable and<br />
disenfranchised in our society. For all of you who are interested in<br />
learning about how you can make a positive change in children’s lives,<br />
a unique opportunity awaits ...<br />
“Children Caught in Conflict” is the theme of the 5 th World Congress<br />
on Family Law and Children’s Rights, which is taking place right<br />
here in Halifax from August 23 to 26, <strong>2009</strong>. The Congress hopes to<br />
attract between 600 and 1,000 delegates from around the world. It<br />
will cover a wide array of topics, from children’s rights and issues in<br />
different societies to models of parenting and international responses<br />
to the protection of children. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin<br />
will speak at the Open Plenary on August 23, followed by many<br />
remarkable speakers from different countries and backgrounds, who<br />
offer alternate perspectives.<br />
This is indeed a unique opportunity. You will be able to network<br />
with folks from different countries and cultures and become more<br />
informed about the issues and challenges they face. You will be able<br />
to learn what initiatives other countries have put in place to support<br />
the rights of children. Above all, I am confident you will be energized<br />
by the debate.<br />
Unlike conventional continuing education sessions, the purpose of<br />
the Congress is multi-faceted. The aim is not only to educate, but<br />
to challenge and engage the participants as well. You are encouraged<br />
to lend your voice to the discussion and suggest options for possible<br />
resolutions, so as individuals and governments we can take steps to<br />
reduce the conflict faced by the children in our communities and<br />
around the world.<br />
To learn more about the sessions that are being offered and to register,<br />
please visit the Congress website at www.lawrights.asn.au.<br />
Tilly (Thilairani) Pillay QC is director of the Legal Services Division<br />
of the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Department of Justice. She is a member of the local<br />
organizing committee for the 5th World Congress on Family Law and<br />
Children’s Rights, along with Justice R. James Williams (Chair), Julia<br />
Cornish QC, Yvonne LaHaye QC and Robyn Elliott.<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 17
a great big<br />
gaping hole<br />
There is a great big gaping hole in<br />
donalee Moulton<br />
<strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>’s social safety net –<br />
Freelancer<br />
and youth 16-19 years of age are<br />
falling through. The issue is legislative.<br />
It’s also regulatory. It’s also a problem of practice. And perception.<br />
Here’s what’s happening, explains Emma Halpern, equity officer with<br />
the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong>. “If a young person is not under<br />
the care and custody of the province, they have a very difficult time<br />
accessing funds and services from the Department of Community<br />
Services.”<br />
That leaves a lot of young people – literally – out on the street. The<br />
age limit for support is 15 years in practical terms, says Ann Marie<br />
MacInnes, a senior staff lawyer with <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Legal Aid in Sydney.<br />
“The law allows for 16- to 18-year-olds,” she notes, “but that is not<br />
the practice in <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>.”<br />
As a result, says MacInnes, “these kids are left homeless in Cape<br />
Breton.”<br />
In Halifax, there are some options (such as Phoenix Youth Programs)<br />
but even in the province’s largest community, those options are<br />
limited. Homeless shelters, for example, are often intended for adults.<br />
There are often few resources dedicated for youth.<br />
And youth are more vulnerable than many other groups. That<br />
vulnerability is reflected in the judicial system. “The legislation is<br />
contradictory,” says Halpern, who coordinates the <strong>Society</strong>’s annual<br />
UnCommon Law conference, which explores youth justice themes.<br />
“In some ways, youth are treated as adults at age 16 and they can be<br />
required to take care of themselves completely. On the other hand,<br />
they don’t have a political voice until age 18.”<br />
That effect is pronounced, yet the violations that bring many of these<br />
youth in conflict with the law often aren’t. In youth justice, the vast<br />
majority of charges are curfew or keep-the-peace violations. “When<br />
you look at things from a common sense perspective, a lot of these<br />
kids’ behaviour is being criminalized because of an existing order,”<br />
says MacInnes, noting she once represented a young person who had<br />
53 breach charges and had never been convicted of anything.<br />
“It’s hard to deal with the issues a young person is facing when they<br />
don’t even have basic food and shelter,” she stresses.<br />
Rob* knows that firsthand. Just 18 years old, he has lived in 19<br />
different homes. He was removed from his parents’ care at two and<br />
adopted at four. He ran away when he was 12 after being physically<br />
abused. “From the time I moved away from home until now,” he<br />
says, “I lived in a total of 18 places. Some of these places weren’t all<br />
that bad. Others were horrible.”<br />
What Rob discovered is what many youth outside the community<br />
services system have learned the hard way: You can’t get housing if<br />
you can’t get a job. You can’t get a job if you don’t have a permanent<br />
address. You can’t get a job if you can’t take get cleaned up; you can’t<br />
take a shower if you don’t have a place to eat and sleep. And so on.<br />
It’s what the experts call the criminalization of poverty. Here’s an<br />
example from the Ontario Women’s Justice Network. That province<br />
has the Safe Streets Act or what is commonly called the “squeegee law,”<br />
which makes it illegal to solicit in an “aggressive manner.” In a case<br />
challenging the law, the Court of Appeal for Ontario determined the<br />
law was just and constitutional. The court concluded that the right<br />
to life, liberty and security was not infringed because the defendants<br />
in this case could have solicited money in other ways that were not<br />
prohibited by law.<br />
The law, she adds, defines much of what youth can and can’t do –<br />
where they can work, where they can live, even possibly what time<br />
they have to be home. “For many kids, their lives have been affected<br />
by the law since they were born, and they have very little say.”<br />
18 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
“Young people need an avenue to follow,” says Dr. Jeff Karabanow<br />
of the Dalhousie School of Social Work. “More and more studies<br />
are supporting the finding that nearly one in two children on the<br />
street has child welfare experience. There is something wrong with<br />
that picture.”<br />
While most kids rely on Mom and Dad, it’s not an option for<br />
these young people, he notes. “Those two foundations don’t exist<br />
for this population. They need little things like being able to take a<br />
shower, little things that would make them feel human again.”<br />
And they need the support of their community. For some kids,<br />
like Rob, that support comes one person at a time. While staying<br />
at Phoenix House, he met a man who gave him much-needed<br />
support. “I had a meeting with him and explained to him what<br />
I was going through and asked if he could help me get back on<br />
track. He started to test me to see if I was a hard worker and could<br />
keep a job or not. So he started me as a street sweeper.”<br />
Support also needs to come from the government. Just as the<br />
House of Assembly was dissolved for the recent election, the former<br />
MacDonald government unveiled the province’s first Poverty<br />
Reduction Strategy, developed in response to recommendations<br />
from the Poverty Reduction Working Group, which was put in<br />
place through legislation supported by all three parties.<br />
The $155-million strategy calls for training low-skilled workers,<br />
increasing affordable housing and improving benefits for lowincome<br />
families. About $88 million will be invested in training<br />
workers with less than a Grade 12 education level. Another $59<br />
million will be spent to increase access to quality, affordable<br />
housing and the development of a provincial housing strategy.<br />
Poverty is one thing, but it’s extremely important to include youth<br />
directly in this strategy, youth advocates argue.<br />
It’s one opportunity to begin strengthening the social safety net.<br />
As for Rob, there seem to be a lot of right directions in his life at<br />
the moment. “I’m doing good,” he says. “I even got a puppy and<br />
now I’m taking care of her.”<br />
* surname withheld at Rob’s request<br />
Lights, camera, action on youth<br />
The glitz, glitter and gold of television and movies holds a special<br />
allure for young people. <strong>No</strong>w it also holds an employment<br />
opportunity for youth looking to get off the street, on their feet<br />
and into a better, brighter world.<br />
An innovative project in Dalhousie’s Faculty of Health<br />
Professions saw five homeless youth share their insights and<br />
stories while gaining practical skills in film production.<br />
Dr. Jeff Karabanow is a social work professor who researches<br />
the pathways in and out of youth homelessness. Having worked<br />
on a documentary with street kids in Guatemala, he saw the<br />
potential in using the tools of popular media to provide a voice<br />
and inspire confidence in young people.<br />
He collaborated with Dal nursing professor Dr. Jean Hughes,<br />
film producer Bryan Hofbauer (3 Needles, The Event) and other<br />
colleagues on the Halifax project, funded primarily by the federal<br />
government through the Social Sciences and Humanities<br />
Research Council. They met with the group of homeless youth<br />
several times a week.<br />
“All of them were just so thankful to be provided for for five<br />
hours a day,” he says.<br />
While learning about camera work, storyboarding, scriptwriting,<br />
editing and composing, the young participants created three<br />
short films. One animation effort was nominated for an award at<br />
the ViewFinders International Film Festival for Youth. Another,<br />
a documentary, inspired its creator to enroll in community<br />
college in Truro toward a career as a youth worker.<br />
But the biggest reward for all the hard work and commitment<br />
was the bond the budding filmmakers developed with each<br />
other – and their mentors. “We built a little family for four<br />
months,” says Karabanow.<br />
“Regardless of how they look or how they act,” he adds, “these<br />
are kids who are yearning to be accepted by mainstream culture<br />
… they need support.”<br />
In June, Karabanow and Hughes led an informal public<br />
discussion on youth homelessness through Café Scientifique,<br />
sponsored by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.<br />
“Youth are the fastest growing homeless population in<br />
Canada, followed closely by young families,” Hughes told the<br />
gathering.<br />
Both professors are inspired by the resilience, creativity and<br />
hope they encounter in the youth they’ve met. Karabanow hired<br />
two of the film project’s participants to help out on a national<br />
research study about the work homeless youth do to support<br />
themselves. He also enlisted a formerly homeless young<br />
woman to draw the illustrations for his new book, Voices from<br />
the Streets: How Canadian Homeless Young People are Getting<br />
Off the Street, to be published this fall by Fernwood Press.<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 19
Thoughts from a new lawyer<br />
Without sounding<br />
Jacqueline Twohig<br />
like a law school<br />
Blois, Nickerson & Bryson admissions essay,<br />
I always knew I would end up<br />
practising law in <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>. On June 12, <strong>2009</strong>, I, along with 58<br />
other admittees, became a lawyer of the Supreme Court of <strong>No</strong>va<br />
<strong>Scotia</strong>. Truth be told, I could never truly put my finger on why I<br />
wanted to practise law, which made those admissions essays very<br />
difficult, but now that I am (finally) a lawyer, I cannot picture myself<br />
doing anything else.<br />
As a practising member of the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Bar, I hope that I<br />
can somehow make a difference and leave my mark on the legal<br />
community and on this province. How I will go about doing that<br />
is something I have yet to figure out. I am interested in diverse areas<br />
of law and am somewhat unwilling to rule anything out this early in<br />
my career. At least once a week, some issue or problem arises that I<br />
have not encountered before and my interest is immediately piqued.<br />
I find that, right now, this constant challenge is most exciting about<br />
practising law. <strong>No</strong>thing is static; the practice of law is very dynamic<br />
and constantly changing and evolving. I have been privileged to<br />
article and begin my practice with a law firm that has allowed me to<br />
gain experience in a wide range of practice areas. I also am enjoying<br />
the autonomy of being able to start “my own” practice in whatever<br />
areas I choose.<br />
It is a very interesting time to be embarking on a legal career. With the<br />
global recession on everyone’s mind, it is a time when access to justice<br />
and delivery of effective, yet affordable, legal services are becoming<br />
more and more important. I believe that my fellow admittees and I<br />
are keenly aware of the need for accessible legal services. I also believe<br />
that the breakneck speed at which we can now communicate and do<br />
business because of ever-advancing technology is forcing us, as legal<br />
service providers, to keep up with the times. The Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong><br />
“tweets” on Twitter.com and Facebook is now being used as a source<br />
of evidence in some courts in this country. This is demonstrative<br />
of the way in which technology is changing the practice of law and<br />
the delivery of legal services. Keeping up with these technological<br />
changes is also an opportunity for young lawyers to be ahead of the<br />
game in their practices.<br />
One thing that I am certain of right now is that I want to be known<br />
for the quality of my practice. Everything we do, even as newlycalled<br />
lawyers, affects people and those people employ us to use our<br />
knowledge for their benefit. This is a privilege and I intend to live<br />
up to the expectations that I know my clients will have for my work.<br />
So, good luck to my fellow admittees. Given the size of the <strong>No</strong>va<br />
<strong>Scotia</strong> Bar, I am certain we will be seeing each other often as our<br />
careers progress. I hope that the collegial spirit of our June 12 th<br />
admission ceremony does not wane anytime soon and I look forward<br />
to working with you in the future.<br />
20 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
LIANS<br />
Tips from the RISk & Practice management Advisor<br />
by Deborah E. Gillis QC<br />
Risk and Practice Management Advisor<br />
Tips for building a successful firm<br />
Regardless of firm size or<br />
practice areas, successful<br />
firms have many common<br />
characteristics, which I address in<br />
this article. These include:<br />
• Completing regular checks,<br />
both firm wide and individually to<br />
look at strengths, areas that need<br />
improvement and emerging trends.<br />
Successful firms anticipate and<br />
prepare, rather than react.<br />
• Successful firms recognize there<br />
is a huge business component to the practice of law and take<br />
the time to educate new associates on this important aspect of<br />
the practice. These firms either offer or encourage participation<br />
in continuing legal education (CLE), which covers topics such<br />
as time management, billing, client service, communication,<br />
marketing and risk management.<br />
• Risk management is an important part of the successful firm’s<br />
culture. Everyone is educated on the importance of a welldocumented<br />
file and attention to detail in all aspects of work<br />
product. Compliance with well-developed risk management<br />
policies is expected from everyone in the firm.<br />
• Successful firms provide excellent client service, exceeding,<br />
not just meeting, client expectations. To do so, they manage<br />
expectations from the outset, and take the time to explain the<br />
legal process, the range of possible outcomes, communication<br />
policies and the billing process with their client. At the outset,<br />
they effectively screen clients whose expectations they feel<br />
cannot be met.<br />
• Successful firms also devote the time and resources necessary<br />
to properly train and manage support staff. With the significant<br />
reliance placed on support staff, successful firms recognize that<br />
it is critical that they receive ongoing training in firm systems<br />
and are properly supervised.<br />
• Lifelong learning is a priority for everyone in a successful firm.<br />
To help achieve success in your practice, consider participating in the<br />
workshops and presentations that I will be offering in the next 12 months.<br />
These sessions are designed to help you manage your risk, and succeed<br />
in practice.<br />
As well, access the excellent resources available through the Library and<br />
Information Services department of the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong>.<br />
These resources include texts on:<br />
• client relations<br />
• practice management<br />
• marketing<br />
• professional growth<br />
• work/life balance<br />
• technology<br />
• time management<br />
Deborah E. Gillis, QC, is the Risk and Practice Management Advisor for LIANS.<br />
She may be reached at 423-1300 ext. 345 or at dgillis@lians.ca.<br />
• Successful firms take the time and devote resources to select,<br />
train and supervise their young lawyers. They recognize that<br />
mentoring young lawyers and supervising their work closely<br />
has huge long-term benefits.<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 21
Safeguarding the rights of<br />
young people<br />
Local case clarifying police interrogation procedures across Canada<br />
Jennifer Stewart<br />
Freelancer<br />
Legal Aid lawyer had dealt with before.<br />
It wasn’t the first time Shawna<br />
Hoyte had received such a call.<br />
But it would turn out to be a<br />
case like no other the Dalhousie<br />
It was August 2004. The mother of one of Hoyte’s clients had called to<br />
say her 15-year-old son was in custody on a slew of charges, including<br />
dangerous driving causing bodily harm in an alleged hit-and-run in<br />
Dartmouth.<br />
Hoyte knew the boy well. He’d had run-ins with the law before and<br />
suffered from learning disabilities, which often made communication<br />
with the teen difficult.<br />
This time would prove no exception.<br />
Despite his mother’s insistence that her son couldn’t properly<br />
understand what it meant to waive his rights, officers extracted a<br />
90-minute videotaped statement from the teen that was later admitted<br />
as evidence at trial. Hoyte was not present for the interrogation.<br />
“I knew this kid fairly well in a relationship as solicitor-client, and I<br />
knew that he really didn’t get a lot of what was going on,” says Hoyte.<br />
“He was the type of kid that would accept responsibility for things<br />
just to get it done and over with because he didn’t have the intellect<br />
or mentality to keep it going.”<br />
Judge Pam Williams of Halifax Youth Court sensed that same vibe<br />
and tossed the statement out.<br />
“The judge made several comments in that the police have to go one<br />
step further in making certain that a young person clearly understands<br />
what it means to waive their rights,” Hoyte says.<br />
With no other evidence against the boy, the charge was dismissed.<br />
But that wasn’t the end of it.<br />
The Crown took the case to the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Court of Appeal, which<br />
ordered a new trial. Hoyte fired back and applied successfully to have<br />
the case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.<br />
“There was a question of standard of compliance and proof — was it<br />
22 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
eyond a reasonable doubt or beyond a balance of probabilities? The<br />
Court of Appeal didn’t really make a decision on that, so it opened the<br />
door for the Supreme Court of Canada to hear it,” Hoyte explains.<br />
In a 4-3 decision last <strong>No</strong>vember, the high court ruled that the<br />
statement was inadmissible because the officers didn’t do enough to<br />
safeguard the boy’s rights.<br />
“Police officers, in determining the appropriate language to use in<br />
explaining a young person’s rights, must make a reasonable effort to<br />
become aware of significant factors, such as learning disabilities and<br />
previous experience with the criminal justice system,” the decision<br />
stated.<br />
Since then, Hoyte says she’s received calls from lawyers across the<br />
country commending her on the case. She has also heard from<br />
local police authorities saying they’re aware of the Supreme Court’s<br />
ruling and will be reviewing their procedures for dealing with young<br />
people.<br />
But Deputy Chief Chris McNeil of Halifax Regional Police says<br />
nothing has really changed in the past six months.<br />
“The decision probably has forced us to dig deeper, but I can’t make<br />
them psychologists,” McNeil says of his officers.<br />
For years, he adds, police in <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> have used one of the most<br />
comprehensive youth statement forms in the country. The six-page<br />
document includes 24 questions that must be read aloud to the young<br />
person, who in turn acknowledges whether he or she understands.<br />
If anything, McNeil says, the decision muddies the waters even<br />
more because of the discrepancies between the different levels of the<br />
courts.<br />
“You are supposed to sort out what the provincial court saw one way,<br />
what the appeal court saw another way and what the Supreme Court<br />
saw in a 4-3 split,” he says.<br />
“It may be that the bar is so high now that the officers will simply<br />
have to do the best they can and then leave that to the courts.”<br />
The problem, the deputy chief insists, can be traced back to the<br />
“overly complicated” Youth Criminal Justice Act, which he claims<br />
doesn’t do enough to protect society.<br />
He says the legislation has always made it difficult to take statements<br />
from young people and have them admitted in court.<br />
“It’s just a skill,” McNeil says. “We have to say how much is enough<br />
and that’s a very difficult and fine line to say.”<br />
But it’s a fine line that police officers across the country are going<br />
to have to define if they want these statements to stand up, Hoyte<br />
stresses.<br />
“It is about awareness,” she says. “It is about making certain that<br />
police authorities use the proper procedures when it comes to young<br />
people.”<br />
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<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 23
President Ron Creighton QC and First Vice-President Marjorie Hickey QC in the hallowed halls of Auburn Drive High<br />
24 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
A meeting of minds<br />
Students and lawyers share insights and learn from each other<br />
Marla Cranston<br />
Communications Officer<br />
They arrived together on a<br />
schoolbus and left with<br />
heightened admiration for<br />
the new generation.<br />
The <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Barristers’ <strong>Society</strong> held its final Council meeting of<br />
the year at Auburn Drive High School in Cole Harbour on May 22,<br />
with more than 100 students participating. After disembarking from<br />
the bus, Council’s lawyers and public representatives were ushered<br />
into the gymnasium to take part in a special Law Day hosted by the<br />
school.<br />
“A lot of work went into preparing for this,” says Vice-Principal Karen<br />
Hudson. Some students produced a video for the event, while students<br />
Jamel Ross and Morgan Williams<br />
shared their thoughts on legal issues<br />
with upbeat rap performances as the<br />
day began.<br />
impressive, articulate and enthusiastic to learn more about justice.<br />
“It was a wonderful opportunity to break down some of the barriers<br />
and perceptions that youth may have regarding the legal profession,”<br />
adds Hudson. “All those lawyers whose names we hear all the time<br />
in the media, well to be able to sit down and have a discussion with<br />
them was pretty fascinating for the students.”<br />
The Auburn event follows in the footsteps of a new <strong>Society</strong> tradition<br />
that has formed in recent years, with Council going out into the<br />
community to develop closer connections and better understanding.<br />
<strong>No</strong>rth Preston hosted the first such event and last year, Membertou,<br />
Cape Breton, welcomed Council.<br />
The work continued as the<br />
brainstorming began – gathering in<br />
breakout groups, students and lawyers<br />
embarked on spirited discussions<br />
about a variety of legal issues that can<br />
impact the lives of teenagers. Each<br />
group examined different aspects of<br />
a hypothetical high school scenario<br />
that had been developed, based on<br />
issues of interest that were identified<br />
by students in advance.<br />
The dialogue and practical tips<br />
covered everything from workplace<br />
rights and privacy laws to<br />
repercussions that can flow from a<br />
schoolyard fight, a timely topic in<br />
light of an incident that generated<br />
blaring media headlines in Cole<br />
Harbour just three weeks earlier. The<br />
television cameras captured a much<br />
more positive impression during Law<br />
Day, reflecting students who were<br />
Past President Joel Pink QC, with a group of Auburn Drive High students<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 25
Youth facilitator LaMeia Reddick and Vice-Principal Karen Hudson (second and third from left) helped keep<br />
the day on track, with participation from students, staff and local RCMP officers.<br />
The high school setting allowed the <strong>Society</strong> to build on its annual<br />
UnCommon Law conference, a key Equity Office initiative that<br />
brings together young people, lawyers, judges and social workers to<br />
discuss current legal issues.<br />
“Learning is not a spectator sport” is a key motto at Auburn High,<br />
and Law Day was good evidence of just how seriously students take<br />
their responsibility to learn. Long before the event, the student<br />
council and the school’s Youth of Today group collaborated closely<br />
with the <strong>Society</strong> and professional facilitator Becky Colwell to plan the<br />
program of sessions, which were designed to be interactive.<br />
Council also conducted its regular agenda of <strong>Society</strong> business, so<br />
students could observe how the provincial regulatory group operates.<br />
At one point, during a vesting ceremony for departing Council<br />
members who were completing their terms, music students provided<br />
a riveting drumming accompaniment.<br />
It was the final meeting of the year for the group, before the newly<br />
elected Council began its duties in June, and students had a chance<br />
to witness some important decisions being made. Key agenda items<br />
included a comprehensive review of Professional Responsibility activity,<br />
as well as adoption of a new communications strategy, which<br />
aims to strengthen the <strong>Society</strong>’s connections with the public. The<br />
final order of business was an NSBS scholarship, presented by Pink to<br />
the school. Student Alyson Reid was the recipient of the scholarship,<br />
handed out during the June 25 graduation ceremony.<br />
“It’s very important that we build a relationship between lawyers<br />
and the community,” explains Pink. “Considering our mandate<br />
is to uphold and protect the public interest in the practice of law,<br />
this is a good way to ensure people know what we do and also to<br />
give us a better understanding of public concerns in relation to the<br />
administration of justice.”<br />
26 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
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<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> <strong>27</strong>
YOUTH WORK THAT WORKS<br />
If it’s about us, don’t do it without us<br />
group of innovators – including<br />
Emma Halpern A youth peer leaders – gathered<br />
NSBS Equity Officer recently on <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>’s South<br />
Shore to brainstorm new ways of<br />
approaching youth work, youth organizing and youth advocacy.<br />
Youth Work That Works, held at White Point Beach Resort in May,<br />
was a three-day training experience that brought together pioneering<br />
youth organizations from across the northeastern U.S. and Atlantic<br />
Canada. It centered on dialogue and relationship-building with<br />
others who are passionate about engaging young people and seeking<br />
innovation in the youth field. It included opportunities to learn from<br />
youth workers who have explored, created and introduced practices<br />
that are shifting the nature of youth work itself, through new programs<br />
and more effective youth engagement.<br />
“The traditional service/client model in our communities is not<br />
serving youth,” said the event’s co-host Tim Merry, founder of the<br />
Split Rock Learning Centre in Yarmouth, a youth drop-in centre that<br />
offers regional programming for youth and youth workers. “Young<br />
leaders and adults working with youth are burning out and many of<br />
us who are innovating around what we’re hearing from youth feel like<br />
we’re working in isolation.”<br />
The White Point experience, then, was about bringing youth workers<br />
together to amplify what is working and leverage areas for change<br />
in this region. It was about working together to build resilient<br />
community leaders, activists and change agents.<br />
Much of the operational youth work facilitated by the event’s hosting<br />
team is grounded in the following core tenets:<br />
• If it’s about us, don’t do it without us.<br />
• You are the experts on youth.<br />
• Everyone is gifted, no one is broken.<br />
• Youth is the focus but the context is intergenerational.<br />
Simple – yet crucial – components of youth work that works.<br />
That’s why young people were fully involved in the design, delivery<br />
and followup for the training, with the Leaders of Today Youth<br />
Co-Hosting Team, sponsored by the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Child and Youth<br />
Strategy and Youth Secretariat. The event was also spearheaded by<br />
Leave Out ViolencE (Halifax) and The Chill Zone youth centre<br />
(Gloucester, Massachusetts).<br />
The following questions formed some of the grounding for the<br />
training:<br />
• What kind of support do young people need to lead the way and<br />
own their destiny in our region?<br />
• How can we ensure any change we make lasts into the future?<br />
• How can we create the conditions for sustained innovation and<br />
growth in our youth organizing and engagement?<br />
Facilitators used the techniques and tools of the Art of Hosting to<br />
delve more deeply into these questions and assist participants to<br />
identify their own questions as they move forward with this work<br />
As the flyer indicated: “This is not for spectators.” All participants<br />
– of all ages – were invited to challenge their own assumptions and<br />
ultimately, take a step towards taking responsibility for what they care<br />
about in the world.<br />
28 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
Youth Work that works<br />
Including young people in the<br />
conversation – it works!<br />
If I were asked to describe the recent Youth Work That Works<br />
(YWTW) conference in one word, I would have to use the word<br />
extraordinary. Extraordinary can be defined as either very unusual<br />
call it Youth Work That Works, because it works.<br />
We manage to work together in a fun and interactive way. We<br />
learn more and more about each other as the days go on and most<br />
importantly, we learn more and more about ourselves and we begin<br />
to look at what we have to offer.<br />
Young people have so much to<br />
offer, but their opinions and voices<br />
are often seen as inferior to the<br />
voices and opinions of adults.<br />
Being a youth host this year was incredible. It was amazing to observe<br />
the evolution of the conference from the beginning to end. It is always<br />
encouraging to meet adults who want to know how they can work<br />
better with youth and are not afraid to ask for help.<br />
I left the conference feeling overwhelmed with joy, and hopeful that<br />
those who attended would go back and apply what they learned to<br />
their own work with youth.<br />
Young people have so much to offer, but their opinions and voices<br />
are often seen as inferior to the voices and opinions of adults. My<br />
lifelong goal is to break down the barriers that prevent people from<br />
communicating effectively together because I believe we all need each<br />
other. <strong>No</strong>w more than ever.<br />
LaMeia Reddick<br />
YWTW Youth Host<br />
or remarkable. YWTW is both. It is unusual because it is<br />
not like most conferences, where people come expecting it<br />
to be the regular sit-down, listen-to-the-presenter, look-atthis-Powerpoint,<br />
take-notes type of conference. It’s fun to<br />
watch the participants’ reactions when we whip around the<br />
talking piece and encourage them to let their guard down.<br />
Youth Works That Works is remarkable because there is<br />
something so powerful that comes out of getting people<br />
with a common interest together to talk about things that<br />
are important to them. Getting youth and adults together<br />
produces amazing results in an atmosphere where everyone<br />
feels that what they have to say is valuable. This is why we<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 29
kudos<br />
Sarah MacLaren,<br />
Executive Director, LOVE NS<br />
Sarah Bradfield<br />
<strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Department of Justice<br />
You’ve gotta have a<br />
dream, to have a<br />
dream come true.<br />
Sarah MacLaren has a dream and she believes it can come true.<br />
That belief has allowed her to take a model that started in Montreal<br />
and make it work in Halifax. Leave Out ViolencE (LOVE) is a<br />
violence prevention and intervention organization that works<br />
with youth who have experienced any form of violence, be it as<br />
victim, witness or perpetrator. LOVE strives to provide a voice<br />
to youth, to help them find alternatives to violence and to end<br />
the cycle of learned violence through youth educating youth.<br />
Sarah launched the first LOVE <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> photojournalism program<br />
in January 2000 with no staff, no office, just a handful of volunteers and<br />
a strong belief in the work to be accomplished. As executive director of<br />
LOVE <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>, she has taken that first group of 18 young people<br />
and created one of the region’s most successful youth organizations.<br />
She now has an office and staff to help her, but it’s not like most offices.<br />
At LOVE, the staff are thrilled to be there, hugs are commonplace<br />
and there is a palpable feeling of caring in the air. It is a place of<br />
respect and trust for, and among, all those who enter. Under Sarah’s<br />
guidance, LOVE NS allows young people to find their way through<br />
the programs available, determine their own path and progress at<br />
their own rate. She has absolute faith that the solutions to problems<br />
faced by youth are held within young people themselves. In many<br />
ways, it is Sarah’s perspective on youth that makes the difference.<br />
“Every young person is gifted, not broken,” she says. LOVE is not<br />
there to fix youth, but to help them better express their innate gifts.<br />
<strong>No</strong>t only has Sarah helped create and sustain one of the area’s most<br />
successful youth programs, she has also become an invaluable resource<br />
to the youth justice community. Sarah and LOVE youth have been<br />
involved with or spoken to many diverse organizations, from the<br />
Mayor’s Roundtable on Violence and Public Safety to the Nunn<br />
Commission of Inquiry and the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Youth Secretariat. They<br />
have provided comment on the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Sarah is<br />
also on the board of the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Criminal Justice Association,<br />
a group that will be hosting a national congress on criminal justice<br />
this October. Somehow she also finds time to facilitate successful<br />
workshops and retreats focusing on youth issues and is on the Steering<br />
Committee of Envision Halifax, a network of community leaders.<br />
There can be no doubt that Sarah and LOVE have managed to<br />
engage youth in need. LOVE has an exceptional retention rate,<br />
with over 90 per cent of young people staying with the programs<br />
on a fully voluntary basis. Beyond the programs that have been<br />
provided to dozens and dozens of youth over the past nine years,<br />
LOVE Youth Leaders have gone on to educate hundreds more<br />
citizens, young and old, through LOVE Outreach sessions.<br />
Outreach sessions are conducted through partnerships with<br />
30 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
schools and other community organizations, including diversity<br />
training workshops conducted for Halifax Regional Police cadets.<br />
For Sarah, success at LOVE is helping young people to become<br />
happy, productive members of society. As she notes, “where<br />
others might have seen a young person who only took from the<br />
social system, LOVE creates contributors.” Some LOVE kids are<br />
now completing high school and higher education, while others<br />
are gainfully employed and living independently, thanks to the<br />
development of the skills necessary to make their own positive<br />
decisions. The success of LOVE NS is also exemplified by its<br />
continued growth and acceptance into new communities in need.<br />
In September 2008, Sarah and her staff began programs in the<br />
First Nations communities of Indian Brook and Membertou.<br />
kudos<br />
Sarah’s dream now is to build a proper home for LOVE in the heart of<br />
our community, a space designed for and about youth. She recognizes<br />
the significant need in our city centre for a space that allows access to<br />
programs, services and information while providing an atmosphere<br />
that actually attracts youth to it. Based on her record so far and<br />
the power of her ever-optimistic attitude, it’s sure to happen.<br />
Sarah M. Bradfield has been a solicitor with legal services at the <strong>No</strong>va<br />
<strong>Scotia</strong> Department of Justice since 1996. In 2006, she joined the board at<br />
LOVE NS after a friend brought the organization to her attention.<br />
Find out more about LOVE and its programs at www.lovens.ca.<br />
LOVE Community Day at the George Dixon Centre<br />
LOVE Links participants Dawson, Tristan, William and Blaze<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 31
You be<br />
the<br />
judge<br />
five years have passed since a fatal car accident in Halifax added fuel to a<br />
nationwide push to toughen up the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). High on drugs<br />
Q:Almost<br />
and driving a stolen car just two days after his release from custody on prior car<br />
theft charges, teenager Archie Billard ran a red light and slammed into teaching aide<br />
Theresa McEvoy’s station wagon, killing her instantly.<br />
The resulting public inquiry – helmed by retired Justice Merlin Nunn in 2006 – offered 34<br />
recommendations for reforming youth justice, including six aimed at strengthening the YCJA.<br />
It should be easier for judges to detain young people who have shown “a pattern of offences”<br />
and pose a risk to public safety, said the final report.<br />
Inspired by the Nunn Commission, Ottawa introduced Bill C-25, An Act to Amend the Youth<br />
Criminal Justice Act – nearly two years ago. The proposed legislation aims to strengthen<br />
provisions on pre-trial detention and sentencing for youth, and hold young people more<br />
accountable for crimes they commit.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w 20 years old, Mr. Billard was released from prison last month, after serving the mandatory<br />
two-thirds of his adult sentence of 54 months. With the resolution of the case that sparked the<br />
call for change, it seems timely to ask: if adopted, would Bill C-25 offer real solutions for youth<br />
justice issues? 4 (Opinions expressed are those of the authors.)<br />
You don’t have to face this alone.<br />
Someone is available 24 hours a day, everyday<br />
— the NS Lawyers Assistance Program Advisor.<br />
Completely Confidential Assistance<br />
1-866-299-1299<br />
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32 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
You be<br />
the<br />
judge<br />
A<br />
:Youth crime in Halifax continues to frequent our<br />
headlines. Unfortunately, it seems that violent crime<br />
committed by youth is on the rise. Our city received<br />
national attention when a teenager in a stolen car<br />
attempted to escape the police, and ended up causing the death of<br />
an innocent woman by the name of Theresa McEvoy. Following the<br />
Nunn Commission of Inquiry, the federal government began to have<br />
talks across the nation with those who work in the area of youth<br />
crime. They also proposed certain amendments to the Youth Criminal<br />
Justice Act to address the inadequacies that they felt were important.<br />
The intention of the two proposed amendments that did not become<br />
law before the close of the 39th Parliament on September 7, 2008 were<br />
to broaden the possibility of pre-trial detention for a young person who<br />
represents a danger to the public or has previously failed to comply with<br />
conditions of release and to add the denunciation and the deterrence of<br />
unlawful conduct to the Act’s principles of sentencing.<br />
Though these amendments seem simple and perhaps even necessary,<br />
in my opinion they overlook the real issues with the youth criminal<br />
justice system. In <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>, we still lack resources to assist the<br />
young people who get involved in crime. A great number of them<br />
are children in the care of the Department of Community Services<br />
(DCS) and/or those with serious mental health issues. This is not a<br />
new problem, and many workers in youth justice concur that there<br />
is too high a number of young persons from this vulnerable group.<br />
Wait times for counselling and mental health services still continue<br />
to be lengthy. Residential programs for those with severe issues are<br />
difficult to access and<br />
relatively impossible for<br />
children who are not in the<br />
care of the DCS and/or are<br />
16 years of age or older.<br />
Rickcola Slawter<br />
<strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Legal Aid<br />
Youth Justice and Duty Counsel Office<br />
Recently, the media has been paying attention to a young person<br />
who is in the care of the DCS, who was also reportedly involved in<br />
the youth criminal justice system. This young person is now being<br />
sent to the United States for treatment, because the treatment that is<br />
necessary to assist this young person is not available in this jurisdiction.<br />
Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence. So often judges, lawyers<br />
and youth workers are faced with impossible situations for our youth,<br />
which the criminal justice system has no ability to address or rectify.<br />
The YCJA specifically states that pre-trial detention should not be<br />
used as an alternative for appropriate child protection, mental health<br />
or other social measures. Part of the reason that YCJA reserves custody<br />
for violent and repeat offenders is because Canada had such a high<br />
reliance on custody for youth. Amendments such as the ones suggested<br />
by the federal government would make it easier to jail the most<br />
vulnerable children in our society. The children who have no parents<br />
and live in group homes that they did not choose for themselves, or<br />
the ones with impulse problems and/or other serious mental health<br />
problems. These are the young people who are repeatedly arrested<br />
and often remanded. And until we acknowledge them, deal with<br />
them and truly help them, these types of amendments will just make<br />
it easier to institutionalize them.<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 33
You be<br />
the<br />
judge<br />
A :<br />
The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) is the latest<br />
legislation to frame and define the youth justice<br />
system in Canada, a system that was created 100 years<br />
ago by the Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA). The social<br />
reformers who created this system in 1908 were largely motivated<br />
by a desire to “save” children in trouble from the deleterious effects<br />
of the criminal justice system. The primary principle was that “...<br />
every juvenile delinquent shall be treated not as a criminal but as a<br />
misguided, misdirected child ...” (S 31, JDA).<br />
Interestingly, while there was a bit of a struggle between professionals,<br />
mostly police and social workers, to create this first system, it<br />
remained largely unchanged (with one amendment in 1924) and<br />
unchallenged for almost 60 years. Once challenged, it took nearly<br />
25 years and four separate legislative proposals to eventually repeal<br />
the JDA and replace it with the Young Offenders Act (YOA) in 1984.<br />
This time, the professional struggle was between social workers and<br />
lawyers. While the impetus for an examination of the justice system<br />
under the JDA came in the late 1950s from the Fauteux Committee<br />
of Inquiry’s concern over the number of adults in the criminal justice<br />
system who had juvenile records, the momentum for new legislation<br />
was easily carried by larger civil rights movements and broader public<br />
and political concerns for fundamental and legal rights occurring in<br />
Canada and internationally.<br />
What is telling about this history is that while Canadians seemed<br />
content with the justice system under the JDA for nearly 60 years,<br />
there has been no widespread public acceptance of the system since<br />
the adoption of the YOA. That reform effort resulted in 25 years of<br />
discontent marked by three sets of major revisions to the YOA and its<br />
eventual repeal and replacement with the YCJA in 2003. This latter<br />
process involved seven<br />
years, three drafts, 160<br />
amendments and Quebec<br />
“opting out” for eventual<br />
adoption. The latest reform<br />
Sandra Bell<br />
Associate Professor, Saint Mary’s University<br />
Dept. of Sociology and Criminology<br />
proposal, Bill C-25, introduced in <strong>No</strong>vember 2007, calls for adding<br />
denunciation and general deterrence as sentencing principles and to<br />
expand the use of pre-trial detention. Both these proposed changes<br />
are fundamentally problematic because they, along with other aspects<br />
of the YCJA such as presumptive offences and adult sentences, erode<br />
the fundamental principles of a juvenile/youth justice system both<br />
by Canadian and international standards, more specifically, persons<br />
under the age of 18 are not adults and should not be subject to the<br />
same consequences for their actions as adults or, in the words of the<br />
YCJA “... fair and proportionate accountability that is consistent with<br />
the greater dependency of young persons and their reduced level of<br />
maturity” [S. (3)(1) (b) (ii)].<br />
What is also telling about the history of juvenile justice reform in<br />
Canada is that the reform process, since the YOA, is more about<br />
politics than evidence and good practice, perhaps one of the reasons<br />
why Canadians have not seemed satisfied with the system for almost<br />
25 years now. The response to the Nunn Commission report is a<br />
good example of these politics in action. While the inquiry produced<br />
34 recommendations, only six were relevant to the legislation of the<br />
YCJA and it is these that received media and political attention, not<br />
the other 28. These recommendations all pertained to inefficiencies<br />
and inconsistencies in the administration of the YCJA and lack of<br />
appropriate and coordinated youth services in the province of <strong>No</strong>va<br />
<strong>Scotia</strong>. The six recommendations addressed to the YCJA essentially<br />
would make it easier to hold youth in pretrial detention, make it easier<br />
34 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
to subject youth to an adult sentence and would make protection<br />
of the public one of the primary goals of the legislation - all would<br />
contribute further to an erosion of the fundamental principles of<br />
juvenile justice. The former Conservative provincial government<br />
embraced these six recommendations and began a political campaign<br />
to garner public support to petition for federal revisions.<br />
While the provincial Minister of Justice claimed to have support<br />
from thousands of <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>ns along with mayors and town<br />
councils representing 60 per cent of <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>ns, neither research<br />
evidence nor the lessons of history would support any of these<br />
proposed revisions as sound policy or good law. Rather, the proposed<br />
revisions represent political opportunism and an example of a bad<br />
case leading to bad law. Over the last 25 years, persistent media<br />
coverage of exceptional youth crime cases has resulted in a general<br />
public fear of youth and, like their counterparts in the United States,<br />
some Canadian politicians have attempted to garner public favour<br />
by pandering to these fears and promising to “crack down” on crime,<br />
particularly youth crime.<br />
For the most part, the YCJA is a good piece of legislation to the<br />
extent that it attempts to address a number of problems created by<br />
the range of contradictory principles of the YOA. Guiding principles<br />
have been simplified in the YCJA and more specific principles are<br />
established for application at particular decision making points.<br />
<strong>No</strong>tably, deterrence is not one of these principles nor has it ever been<br />
a legislated sentencing principle in the history of the juvenile justice<br />
system in Canada. Under the YOA, appeal court judges disagreed<br />
about the relevance of general or specific deterrence as a principle of<br />
sentencing in youth cases [R. v. G.K. (1985), 21 C.C.C. (3D) 558<br />
(Alta. C.A.); R. v. O. (1986), <strong>27</strong> C.C.C. (3D) 376 (Ont. C.A.)] and<br />
now with the YCJA there is more agreement among judges that it is<br />
not a relevant sentencing principle (Bala and Anand, 2004, p. 260).<br />
The current proposal to include deterrence as a principle in<br />
sentencing is another way of eroding the system. The John Howard<br />
<strong>Society</strong> has addressed this issue and recommends that deterrence and<br />
denunciation should not be included as sentencing principles in the<br />
YCJA for three reasons. First, there is simply no evidence that “...<br />
deterrence or punitiveness reduce crime or reoffending.”(2008:12)<br />
and more evidence that it has a negative impact on sentence. According<br />
to Madame Justice Charon, when general deterrence is applied as a<br />
factor in sentencing it “... has a unilateral effect on the sentence....<br />
it will always serve to increase the penalty or make it harsher.” R. v.<br />
B.W.P.; R. v. B.V.N., [2006] 1 S.C.R. 941, 2006 SCC <strong>27</strong> as cited in<br />
Knudsen and Jones, 2008: 13). Furthermore, general deterrence as<br />
a principle of sentencing is a contravention of principles of juvenile<br />
justice as laid out by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child<br />
and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived<br />
of their Liberty. The imposition of harsher sentences for the purpose<br />
of deterring future crime contravenes principles of proportionality,<br />
the child’s best interest and minimal interference with freedoms. This<br />
not only constitutes another erosion of the fundamental principle of<br />
juvenile justice, it also does not make for “good law.”<br />
Similarly, the proposed changes to pretrial detention will not make<br />
for good law and will also further erode the juvenile/youth justice<br />
system. One of the reasons for custody and detention provisions in<br />
the YCJA was the overuse of custody and detention under the YOA.<br />
Furthermore, while the YCJA does seem to have had a reducing effect<br />
on custody sentences, we have not yet seen a reduction in either high<br />
rates of detention, jurisdictional variations in the use of detention or<br />
the overuse of detention for marginalized and minority youth. The<br />
proposed changes are more likely to increase the use of detention and<br />
then, because those held in pretrial detention are more likely to receive<br />
custody sentences, rates of custody sentences will likely increase in the<br />
long run. It is also not clear why strengthening detention provisions<br />
were even a concern for the Nunn Commission. In the youth case<br />
that precipitated the inquiry, a <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> court had found that there<br />
were sufficient grounds to hold the youth in question in detention but<br />
the court nonetheless made a responsible person order (Department<br />
of Justice Consultation Paper, 2008:31). In December 2008, the<br />
federal Department of Justice put out a discussion paper based on a<br />
thorough review of the evidence regarding pre-trial detention. Based<br />
on this evidence, pretrial detention issues, for the most part, have<br />
more to do with reducing discretionary decision-making, clarifying<br />
aspects of s. 29 and s. 39 of the YCJA and addressing the effectiveness<br />
of conditions of release.<br />
These are issues aimed at making better law because these issues<br />
have the potential for progressive change, ones that can be expected<br />
to address regional and jurisdictional variation and disparity. This<br />
approach to reform looks for inconsistencies, problems and weaknesses<br />
in the legislation and its administration, rather than looking for<br />
ways to change the fundamental purpose of the system in the hopes<br />
that something about the law will stop youth crime. Youth crime<br />
issues are better addressed in the context of broader youth issues and<br />
government funding.<br />
Over the last 25 years, most cases involving violent youth crime<br />
have led to claims that the legislation is ineffective. It is believed that<br />
somehow, if the legislation was not so “lenient” the crime would not<br />
have occurred. Interestingly, while in Scotland recently researching<br />
their law reform process in the 1960s that led to the abandonment of<br />
a criminal justice framework for responding to youth crime in favour<br />
of a social welfare approach, a particularly violent and horrific crime<br />
occurred involving the rape and violent murder of a young woman by<br />
a 15-year-old boy. Scottish newspapers were full of stories for at least<br />
a week about the crime, the offender, the victim and public reaction.<br />
Based on my experience in Canada, I expected to hear outcries<br />
through the news media for changes to their legislation. Much to<br />
my surprise, not one voice was raised in criticism of the legislation or<br />
system. Rather, the public issues in the news media revolved around<br />
discussions about “What went wrong?” “Who dropped the ball?”<br />
“How did this youth fall through the cracks?” In other words, the<br />
Scottish public seemed to have faith in their 40-year-old system and<br />
method of responding to youth crime.<br />
One of the goals of our justice system is to maintain public confidence<br />
in the youth justice system and its administration, yet it seems<br />
painfully apparent that more tinkering with a system that has been<br />
under attack and modified repeatedly over the last 40 years is not<br />
about to change public attitudes or for that matter, the incidence of<br />
youth crime. Revisions should be entertained that will solve issues<br />
with the administration of youth justice and the system’s failure to<br />
provide for the needs of many youth in the system. Revisions should<br />
also honour the fundamental precepts of a juvenile justice system and<br />
international standards rather than reflect ill-advised political agenda<br />
and rhetoric.<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 35
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September 30 and October 1, <strong>2009</strong> | Halifax<br />
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36 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
Restorative practices at<br />
work in the classroom<br />
Summation<br />
Photo by Catherine Neily<br />
Classroom management<br />
has<br />
become increasingly<br />
difficult over the<br />
years. Gone are the stereotypical<br />
Rockwell images<br />
of desks in perfectly<br />
aligned rows, assigned<br />
textbooks and a teacher<br />
standing at the front of<br />
the classroom teaching a<br />
homogeneous group of<br />
students who are silently<br />
and obediently following<br />
direction. Today, Dick<br />
and Jane wear Prada and<br />
Leave it to Beaver has left<br />
the building …<br />
Also unreported are the successful programs and positive student<br />
involvement in these programs, which are making a difference.<br />
One such initiative is taking place in the Yarmouth area. Several years<br />
ago, the Tri-County Restorative Justice group began working with<br />
several local schools to teach staff and students about how restorative<br />
justice practices can be used in schools. In September 2007, a pilot<br />
project was launched at Yarmouth High School, where vandalism<br />
and disruptive behaviour had risen over the years.<br />
Restorative practices include the wrongdoer taking responsibility for<br />
his or her actions and the person who has been harmed taking a role<br />
in the process if they choose to do so. Students are encouraged to<br />
resolve conflicts with the assistance of a trained facilitator (often a<br />
fellow student), rather than simply being punished for unacceptable<br />
and harmful behaviour. Restorative justice practices promote peace,<br />
healing, community, individual self-worth, accountability, reparation,<br />
reintegration and empathy.<br />
Terry Bartlett-Visser<br />
LIANS<br />
Is this merely the ageold<br />
cycle where an older<br />
generation criticizes the<br />
younger? Classroom<br />
data and various studies<br />
suggest that this is not the case. Aggressive behaviour of adolescents has<br />
increased in Canada, particularly in girls, according to federal statistics.<br />
There are many reasons cited by experts for the shift in adolescent and<br />
youth behaviour and expectations. These include parenting style, the<br />
increase of popular media in children’s socialization,<br />
the move toward technological<br />
contact rather then face-to-face human interaction<br />
and imaginative play, the breakdown<br />
of community and socio-economic<br />
status (Development of Physical Aggression<br />
from Early Childhood to Adulthood, Richard<br />
E. Tremblay, PhD, FRSC, Canada<br />
Research Chair in Child Development).<br />
Regardless of the reason for the shift, classroom<br />
behaviour in many schools has become<br />
a concern.<br />
In our own province, numerous examples<br />
of school lockdowns, out-of-control<br />
brawls and violence against teachers have<br />
been reported by the media. Unreported<br />
are the individual examples of aggressive<br />
behaviour, cyber-bullying, emotional<br />
manipulation (a covert form of bullying),<br />
incidents of theft and property damage.<br />
Ken Langille, an educator for 32 years and the teacher coordinator for<br />
the restorative justice in schools program in the Yarmouth area, spoke<br />
at the first Tri-County Restorative Justice in Schools Conference,<br />
held in Yarmouth on April 30. He confirmed that Yarmouth High<br />
School (YHS) has introduced restorative justice practices to its system<br />
of handling disruptive behaviour. Since its inception, incidents of<br />
disruptive behaviour reported to the office have dropped. The school’s<br />
administration plans to begin using the Restorative Practices program<br />
in cases involving students who are habitually late for classes.<br />
Photo by Tina Comeau/Yarmouth Vanguard<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 37
School restorative practices programs are not always appropriate and<br />
therefore will never fully replace traditional behavioural modification<br />
techniques, Mr. Langille explained at the conference. For example,<br />
when the seriousness of an offence is such that the criminal justice<br />
system must be involved or when wrongdoers will not accept<br />
responsibility for their actions, school restorative practice programs<br />
are inappropriate. However, restorative practices are successful in<br />
many school situations and their principles, when incorporated<br />
in day-to-day practice, not only assist in individually scheduled<br />
problem-solving sessions (called restorative circles) but also in ongoing<br />
communication, conflict resolution and problem solving.<br />
The YHS restorative justice initiative is known in the school as<br />
“Restorative Practices,” to distinguish it from the “alternative measures”<br />
programs initiated under the Young Offenders Act, now the Youth<br />
Criminal Justice Act. At YHS, it was tailored to meet the needs of that<br />
school and its student body. Emma Halpern, program manager of the<br />
Tri-County Restorative Justice (Halifax Office) and equity officer for<br />
the <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Barrister’s <strong>Society</strong>, stresses that each school has its own<br />
needs and goals, therefore a one-size-fits-all program cannot work. A<br />
restorative practices framework can be followed to assist schools to<br />
incorporate the principles into their day-to-day activities and to set<br />
up restorative practices programs. Ms. Halpern further stresses that<br />
schools interested in such a framework must gain assistance from<br />
others already trained in restorative practice principles. Without this<br />
assistance, it is difficult for a school to initiate such a program and be<br />
successful long-term. There are many facets and levels to restorative<br />
justice programs in schools (and therefore many pitfalls), including<br />
ongoing training and program momentum.<br />
Restorative justice practices are currently being used in schools in<br />
Britain, Australia, Holland, New Zealand, the United States and<br />
Canada. In Ontario, many school boards across the province have<br />
instituted restorative practices training and principles in middle and<br />
high schools, with the assistance of the International Institute for<br />
Restorative Practices - Canada. In Australia and Britain, restorative<br />
practices are being introduced in lower grades so that by the time<br />
students reach middle and high school, they are well versed and<br />
comfortable with the concepts that wrongdoers should take<br />
responsibility for their actions, the victim and others most directly<br />
impacted should have the opportunity to participate fully in the<br />
response if they wish, and that the choices they make as individuals<br />
affect those around them.<br />
In addition to restorative justice in schools, other examples of <strong>No</strong>va<br />
<strong>Scotia</strong> programs being credited with producing change in student<br />
behaviour are Peer Mediation and Roots of Empathy.<br />
Peer Mediation programs offer conflict resolution training to students.<br />
The students’ role is to help others find peaceful ways to solve their<br />
conflicts. Peer mediators do not act as judges. During the training,<br />
they are taught to appreciate that there are two sides to every issue and<br />
they are not to take sides or assign blame. They are trained to respect<br />
the confidentiality of the people involved. They listen carefully and<br />
help the disputants come up with solutions to their problem. Peer<br />
mediation emphasizes respect and fairness (Safe Schools Newsletters,<br />
HRSB, vol. 4, Issue 2, Winter <strong>2009</strong>).<br />
Roots of Empathy programs are currently being taught in 61<br />
classrooms across <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong>, reaching 1,525 children in 2008/<strong>2009</strong>.<br />
The program has been statistically shown to decrease aggression in<br />
participating students and ROE students report a significant increase<br />
in pro-social behaviour among their classmates. Children learn about<br />
human development and neuroscience relating to development and<br />
emotions, emotional literacy and understanding, and parenting. The<br />
program is taught over the course of the school year. A baby and<br />
parent visit a classroom nine times throughout the year. A Roots of<br />
Empathy instructor works with students before, during and after each<br />
visit. The learning that occurs – whether students are learning about<br />
parenting, themselves and their own emotions and how others feel, or<br />
whether it is the teacher learning something new about the students<br />
– all springboards from these visits with the baby. When children are<br />
able to understand others’ points of view and respect others’ feelings,<br />
they develop compassion and tolerance and aggressive behaviour<br />
is less likely to occur (Roots of Empathy Training Materials, 2008;<br />
ROE - <strong>No</strong>va <strong>Scotia</strong> Statistics – 2008/<strong>2009</strong>).<br />
Restorative Practices, Peer Mediation and Roots of Empathy all share<br />
the core idea that we all belong to a community, our choices affect<br />
others around us, communication is important and that our actions<br />
and involvement can make a difference in our environment. Students<br />
involved in these programs become more aware of the feelings and<br />
needs of those around them, as well as themselves. Empathy and<br />
awareness ultimately leads to more tolerant, peaceful and caring<br />
communities.<br />
For more information, you may visit the following websites:<br />
• Tri-County Restorative Justice –<br />
www.tricountyrestorativejustice.com<br />
• International Institute for Restorative Practices-Canada –<br />
www.iirp.org/canada<br />
• Roots of Empathy – www.rootsofempathy.org<br />
Photo by Tina Comeau/Yarmouth Vanguard<br />
38 The <strong>Society</strong> Record
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 39
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40 The <strong>Society</strong> Record