The Ontario Bar Association (OBA) hosted a reception for new calls to the bar. Special guests included Chief Justice Annemarie Bonkalo of the Ontario Court of Justice, Chief Justice Heather Smith of the Superior Court of Justice, and Hon. Chris Bentley, Attorney-General of Ontario.

(From Left) Lee Akazaki, OBA President, and Omar Ha-Redeye

(From Left) Hon. Chris Bentley, Attorney-General of Ontario; Omar Ha-Redeye; and Guillermo Schible, OBA Young Lawyers Division Chair

Omar Ha-Redeye will not be called to the Ontario bar until 2011.

For more photos of the reception, see the OBA website:

The Ontario Bar Association (OBA) held its annual Awards Gala at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Toronto.

The OBA’s Award for Distinguished Service went to Steven F. Rosenhek of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Dianne Saxe of Dianne Saxe Professional Corporation, and Jonathan Speigel of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP.

The OBA’s Linda Adlam Manning Award went to Audrey P. Ramsay of Withrow & Associates.

The OBA’s President’s Award went to Hon. R. Roy McMurtry, OC, O.Ont, Q.C., of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP.

The Hon. Chris Bentley, Attorney General presented the Mundell Medal for Legal Writing to Professor Brenda Cossman of the University of Toronto and William Kaplan, Barrister & Solicitor.

For more photos and information about the awards, see the OBA website:

Honourable Chris Bentley, M.P.P., London West, and Attorney-General of Ontario, held a fundraiser from 7:30-9:00am at The National Club on 303 Bay Street.

The event was co-chaired by Michael Barrack, Christopher D. Bredt, and Mitch Frazer.

The Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA) held its third Annual General Meeting at the Campbell House Museum in Toronto.

The keynote speaker was the Attorney General of Ontario, the Honourable Chris Bentley.

Minister Bentley spoke about recent reforms to the province’s human rights system, improvements to criminal and civil law procedures and potential future changes to the legal aid system and family law. Minister Bentley also expressed his desire to build greater relations between the Arab community and his office, as well as encouraged Arab Canadians to continue working within the legal and judicial systems. The keynote address was followed by an engaging discussion with the Attorney General and attendees on issues relating to improving access to justice for Arabs in Ontario.

Other notable guests included Justice Leonard S. Mandamin of the Federal Court of Canada and Professor Reem Bahdi of the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law.

The 2007 Ontario provincial elections was a great success for the Liberal Party, winning 71 out of a possible 107.

Liberals were especially successful in the Toronto region, where they retained all of their ridings and gained an additional riding in York South—Weston.

Another new riding that Liberals nearly won was Trinity-Spadina. It’s one of Toronto’s most ethnically diverse ridings, including Chinatown, Koreatown, Little Italy, and Little Portugal. It also has considerable economic diversity, with the prosperous Annex in the northern part.

And so it was in the Annex that the riding association was preparing well in advance for the 2011 election.

The NDP incumbent had defeated the Liberal candidate, Kathryn Holloway, by a narrow margin of less than 5% votes. In an election which had the lowest voter turnout in Ontario history, the opportunity to win this riding for the Liberals seemed imminent.

Guests of honour included Greg Sorbara, MPP, and Hon. Chris Bentley, M.P.P. for London West.

The event was held at The Manyata/Spice Room, in Hazelton lanes.