ARCTIC OBITER

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2 | <strong>ARCTIC</strong> <strong>OBITER</strong> 4th Floor, Diamond Plaza 5204 – 50 th Avenue P.O. Box 1298 Yellowknife, NT X1A 2N9 TEL: (867) 873-3828 FAX: (867) 873-6344 info@lawsociety.nt.ca www.lawsociety.nt.ca PRESIDENT Cayley J. Thomas VICE-PRESIDENT Caroline Wawzonek SECRETARY Margo Nightingale TREASURER Kelly McLaughlin LAYPERSON Peter Hall INSIDE 8 12 14 Law Week 2012 Celebrating 30 Years of the Charter The Charter Project Love It or Hate It, It’s Time to Join the Discussion The Well-Kept Secrets of the Law Foundation by Karen Lajoie P.O. Box 1985 Yellowknife, NT X1A 2P5 TEL: (867) 669-7739 FAX: (867) 873-6344 info@cba-nt.org cba.org/northwest EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Linda Whitford linda.whitford@lawsociety.nt.ca DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS LEGAL EDUCATION COORDINATOR Ben Russo ben.russo@lawsociety.nt.ca ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Shannon Hogan shannon.hogan@lawsociety.nt.ca PRESIDENT Malinda Kellett VICE PRESIDENT Glen Rutland SECRETARY / TREASURER vacant PAST PRESIDENT Elaine Keenan Bengts MEMBERS OF COUNCIL Sheldon Toner Caroline Wawzonek Charlene Doolittle BettyLou McIlmoyle Jeannie Wynne-Edwards Arctic Obiter is a joint publication of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. It is published on a bi-monthly basis to keep lawyers practicing in the NWT informed of news, announcements, programs and activities. Comments, articles and photos for consideration can be submitted to Ben Russo. Past and current issues are available on the Law Society website. FROM THE EDITOR I was born months after the Right Honourable Pierre Trudeau and Her Majesty the Queen sat down at a small wooden table, surrounded by hundreds of on-lookers, and made history. Now, 30 years later, I find myself somewhat speechless about a document that, for better or for worse, has blanketed my existence and experience as a Canadian citizen. The Charter is something that I, and most of my generation and the generations to follow, have thought little about. It’s taken for granted, with little understanding of its significance. It is perceived as a universal surety, despite the human injustices seen regularly around the world. It’s a Canadian trademark, but little regard is given to the hard work involved in maintaining it. It’s a simple set of human rights that is surprisingly met with consternation and resistance. understand this Charter of ours, and all it entails. I’ve yet to fully Regardless of whatever the Charter is, and however it is perceived, I look at Law Day as a day be thankful that, at the very least, I can openly question and discuss my rights and freedoms, and how my country is governed. - Ben 3 President’s Message 4 Executive Director’s Message 5 Fraud Prevention 6 Membership News 10 CBA National News 16 NWT Decision Digest 23 Supreme Court of Canada Update 25 NWT Legislative News 26 Notices 27 Resources
MARCH/APRIL 2012 | 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Cayley J. Thomas Intervening on Constitutionality Case This spring has been a very busy season for both the Law Society staff and members of the Executive. Positions on Law Society committees are now fully filled, and most committee work is well underway. Thank you, everyone who put their name forward for membership on a committee – we wouldn’t be able to do this important work without you. In February, Kelly McLaughlin and I met with the Chairs of the committees to discuss outstanding issues, including the need to ensure that the committees have the necessary support from the Executive and Law Society staff. Another Executive/Committee Chair lunch meeting will be scheduled in May. In March, we hosted the winter meeting of the Federation of Law Societies here in Yellowknife. This allowed the entire Executive to attend all, or parts of, the conference. Your Law Society staff worked tirelessly to ensure that the meetings went off without a hitch, and that all the participants, and their spouses experienced our northern hospitality. The LSNT was represented at Federation meetings by Sheila MacPherson, who replaced Lou Sebert as the LSNT representative earlier this year. Although I should have done this before now, I would like to thank Sheila for agreeing to take on this role, and to thank Lou for representing us so well on the federation Council. Some of you may also be aware that, on December 29, 2011, an application was filed in the Nunavut Court of Justice, challenging the constitutionality of the subsections of the Rules of the Law Society of Nunavut (LSNU) dealing with restricted appearance certificates. The application, which was made on behalf of three individuals, includes requests for the following relief: a) A declaration that Rules 49(2)(b) and (g), (3), (4), and (5) of the Rules of the Law Society of Nunavut and s. 5 of Schedule A of the Rules are of no force and effect and; b) A declaration that the requirements under attack breach s. 520 of the Criminal Code and ss. 6, 7, and 11 (3) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As only Her Majesty the Queen was named as a respondent to the application, the LSNU was granted intervenor status in early 2012. After careful consideration, we have also decided to intervene in this application. On April 11, 2012, the LSNT and the Law Society of the Yukon were both granted intervenor status. Our application included affidavit evidence stating that: “The LSNT has a similar, but not identical regulatory scheme to the regulatory scheme set out in the Rules of the Law Society of Nunavut. The LSNT can present unique evidence as to the rationale and negotiations leading to the Territorial Mobility Agreement and the impact that an adverse finding in relation to the Territorial Mobility Agreement would have on its continued ability to be an independent self-regulating body.” This application is in the early stages of case management, and a hearing date has not been set. If any member wishes to see the documents that have been filed on this application, the court file number is 23-12-200 (Chwyl, Niptanatiak & Chmelyk v. the Queen and Nunvut).
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