See the write-up by Kamila Pizon on Law is Cool.

Omar Ha-Redeye at 17th BLSAC Conference

The 17th Annual BLSAC National Conference was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from February 22-23, 2008.

The theme this year was Looking Forward, Looking Back: Black Canadian Achievements in Law.  The conference brought together students, academics, and legal professionals of diverse backgrounds to recognize past achievements and address present concerns of Black Canadians.

Peter W. Hogg spoke at the Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP luncheon on the Charter dialogue.  As of 2003, Peter Hogg was cited by the Supreme Court of Canada 166 times.

Hogg is frequently quoted in defence of the Charter which does not, as some detractors concerned about judicial activism charge, leave judges with the final say on legal issues.

He also responded to critics who have commented on his Charter dialogue theory.

This year featured the inaugural event of the Koskie Minsky LLP Diversity Moot. Another major firm, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, hosted a reception at their Vancouver office for the law students that arrived from across the country.  Finally, a gala reception closed off the event, hosted by Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP.

The welcome address was presented by Raphael Tachie (2007/2008 President, Black Law Students’ Association of Canada), followed by an Aboriginal welcome and an opening address by The Honorable Steven L. Point – Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

Arleen Huggins of Koskie Minsky LLP, spoke on “A Business Case for diversity.”  She said that successful firms are recognizing that their clients are increasingly diverse, and have expectations for firms to reflect the diversity of Canada.  It also provides fresh bases for client development.

Omar Ha-Redeye added that diversity also brings a competitive edge to firms adventurous enough to incorporate diversity because it avoids group think and fosters creativity.

Gail Robinson and Kathleen Dechant said in The Academy of Management Executive,

A phenomenal surge in the growth of emerging markets, extensive use of cross-functional, heterogeneous teams to produce creative solutions to business problems, an increased reliance on non-traditional workforce talent – the realities of today’s workplace clearly demonstrate that diversity management has become a critical aspect of operating a business.

A lunch panel discussed whether having minority judges on the bench make a difference.  Speakers included Justice Selwyn Romilly of the Supreme Court of British Columbia,  Justice Michael H. Tulloch of the Superior Court of Justice (Brampton), and  Justice Castor Williams of the Provincial Court (Nova Scotia).

The panel relied heavily on the late Bertha Wilson‘s material on a similar subject regarding women.

The intersecting barriers of race and gender were then discussed.  Often overlooked, even at this conference, is that minority males are typically more disadvantaged than minority females in the workplace.

A number of concurrent sessions also provided resources for law students searching for summer and articling positions, insights for high school students about what legal life was like, and advice for undergrads on how to enter law.

The conference ended on a positive note with the election of a new executive for the upcoming year.

The American Bar Association (ABA) Client Counseling Competition for Region 6 was held this year the Thomas L. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

Omar Ha-Redeye and Amelia Phillips-Lewis represented the University of Western Ontario as winners of the school’s Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Client Counselling Competition.

They were the top-seeded team through the preliminary rounds, with nearly 33% margin over second place, before being eliminated in the semi-finals.  Three Canadian teams made it to the regional semi-finals.

Canadian Competitors at Region 6: (From Left) Maria Barrett-Morris from Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (UofO Coach), Ellie Persichilli and Jyll Hansen (UofO), Omar Ha-Redeye and Amelia Phillips-Lewis (UWO), Russ Groves and Danielle Bisnar (Osgoode).

On Feb. 3-6, 2008, students from UWO Law travelled to New York city.  Here is a write-up that Omar did:

“A national law school with an international outlook.”

That’s how Western describes itself, and this February nearly a dozen Western law students made it true.

We were a rather international group ourselves, many of us working or traveling overseas prior to law school.  Most of the students were first-years, but we also had several international exchange students from Europe and New Zealand.

Our first stop was the center of international law – the United Nations.  We toured the chambers and had the opportunity to speak to two people in the U.N.’s Office of Legal Affairs.  Both were Canadians.  They shared with us the immensely important role that Canadians play within the U.N., and information on diplomatic legal careers.

We also met with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy.  She shared a touching yet heart-wrenching video of children rehabilitated after serving in child armies in West Africa.

The next day we took on an educational focus and visited the Columbia School of Law.  Our own Prof. Ooosterveld, who accompanied us on our trip, did her Masters in Law at Columbia.  Prof. Oosterveld has published her own book on international law, and considered the school one of the foremost in the field.  This was followed by a stop at the Canadian Mission, where some controversial and topical areas of international law were discussed.

We concluded our trip with some exposure to very different areas of international law.  We first saw the Open Society Justice Initiative.  They set up live website (charlestaylortrial.org) in a war crimes court trying former Liberian President, Charles Taylor.  Allegations against Taylor include arming rebels in Sierra Leone, who in turn used child soldiers.

After seeing children in conflicts in the video at the U.N. earlier in the week, this initiative truly illustrated the role that law plays in holding such individuals accountable for their actions.

Our final stop on the last day was at the New York office of Torys LLP.  They are unique among the Seven Sisters in that they are the fist and only one to have a branch there.  The move was precipitated in trying to meet the needs of their clients, who were doing more business in the U.S.

We were hosted by Mr. Brian Flood, a corporate and commercial lawyer, former chair of the firm’s executive committee, and graduate of Western Law (1968).  Another Canadian lawyer, Gavin Sinclair (UVic, 2000) led us through a case study of how an international merger and acquisition was conducted.

The most fascinating thing about the transaction was the number and types of lawyers in different countries interacted with, spanning several continents.  They also talked about how Canadian law students can pursue legal careers in the U.S.

When we eventually left New York for London, ON, we truly felt we visited the world.  The issues were discussed were dwarfed only by the number of flags at the U.N.  The scope of legal practices we observed truly broadened our international outlooks, globally.

Omar Ha-Redeye responded to Raheel Raza’s article, Endlessly Divisible Canada, in the Toronto Star.

He added to his comments saying,

Unfortunately people like Mrs. Raza suffer from severe inferiority complexes when dealing with the larger Canadian society.

As immigrants to Canada from societies that have failed to develop pluralism and acceptance, they have difficulty fathoming the incredible success we’ve had with multiculturalism in Canada.

Detractors for civil rights advancements fostered from within marginalized communities is an old and effective tactic. The naiveté of these people unwittingly make them pawns of totalitarian and intolerant ideologies, as witnessed by the other responses to her piece.

Canada has a unique history of trying to resolve existing divisions between Protestant English, French Catholic and First Nation communities since the time of Confederation. This challenge has forced us to adopt a more nuanced and inclusive concept of Canadian identity, rather than the melting pot of our southern neighbours.

As a result, we’ve avoided or minimized some of the worst atrocities witnessed in nations demanding total uniformity within their borders. Canada is not without our challenges, but we’re better off than many others in the global community.

Perhaps it’s also important to remember that without the Multiculturalism Act and the abolishment of the Continuous Journey Regulation (1908) prior to it, people like Raheel Raza would never have been welcomed into Canada to begin with.