On May 22-23, the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association of Ontario held its Annual Meeting.

Omar Ha-Redeye spoke at the University of Western Ontario on the religious, social, political, and cultural implication of immigration on construction of Canadian identity. He also addressed the Bouchard-Taylor Commission, which was expected to release a report in the coming weeks.

The key note speaker was Mr. Faisal Joseph, JD of Lerners LLP.

Other student speakers included Scott Atchison (CGS), Khalid Mehmood Khan (Graduate Studies), and Kota Kimura (CGS).

The event was held in the Great Hall of Huron University College.

Ronald Reagan once said,

Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders.

A lot has changed since Reagan’s time, specifically the use of technology to transmit information through mediums such as the Internet.

But what is the impact on politics?

This was the subject of a session at the MaRS Centre entitled The Permanent Campaign.

Renowned technology expert and journalist, Jesse Hirsh, moderated a panel of speakers on the subject which included:

• Omar Ha-Redeye – First-year law student at the University of Western Ontario
• Gillian Moody – PR Professional
• Andrew Coyne – National Editor of Maclean’s magazine
• Andrea Moffat – President and owner of Divercity Consultants
• Stephen Taylor – The Blogging Tories

Prof. Greg Elmer, Director of the Infoscape research lab, Ryerson University, Toronto, gave the introductory plenary.

Jesse Hirsh has provided an overview of the event.

Justice Ian Binnie of the Supreme Court of Canada delivered 2nd annual Claude and Elaine Lecture in Human Rights on The Reasonable Accommodation of Minorities.

The following day, he spoke to a small group of students about his experiences in the court.  He talked about what happens after arguments are made and the justices retire to make the decision, the two-three decisions that he wrote that have made a difference in law and society, and the influence of Supreme Court personalities in the decision-making process.

Justice Ian Binnie of the Supreme Court of Canada speaking to a group of law students (Photo Credit: Lawrence Gridin)