Omar Ha-Redeye finished as a finalist in the Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP Labour Law Advocacy Competition.  The winners were Eric Grigg and Ben Howard.

The case was an appeal of the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Fraser v. Ontario, which is currently pending judgment at the Supreme Court of Canada.

The moot was judged by Paul Broad, Barry Brown, Aida Gattfield, Bob Atkinson, and Margaret Szilassy.

The Honourable Madam Justice Marie Deschamps of the Supreme Court of Canada spoke to law students at the University of Western Ontario on “Jumping at the Chance,” exploring her career path that took her to Canada’s highest court.

She spent some time with law students discussing these issues in further depth at a subsequent session.

The Honourable Madam Justice Marie Deschamps of the Supreme Court of Canada

William M. Kaplan, a lawyer and arbitrator in Toronto, spoke at UWO Law about his new book, Canadian Maverick: The Life and Times of Ivan C. Rand.

Justice Rand served on the Supreme Court of Canada until his retirement at age 75, after which he moved to London, Ont. and founded the law school at Western.

Canadian Constitution Foundation held its Third Annual Law Conference on Race, Religion, Equality and Freedom: Current Canadian Legal Controversies.

The first panel was titled, Is there a human right to be free from offence?

Debating the restrictions on free speech in human rights legislation
Grant Huscroft, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law
Richard Moon, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law
Philippe Dufresne, Canadian Human Rights Commission, Ottawa

The second panel on Intellectual property law featured Howard Knopf of Macera & Jarzyna, and  Richard Owens of Stikeman Elliot LLP.

The third panel addressed, The legal status of polygamy

Debating whether polygamy should be a Criminal Code offense
Martha Bailey, Queens University, Faculty of Law
Nicholas Bala, Queens University, Faculty of Law
Lorraine Weinrib, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law
Bradley Miller, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law

Keynote speaker over the lunch was Supreme Court of Canada Justice Louis LeBel.

Justice Louis LeBel of the Supreme Court of Canada

An afternoon panel looked at the recent decision in R. v. Kapp,  Racial equality, aboriginal rights, and Section 15

Dwight Newman, University of Saskatchewan, College of Law
Bryan Finlay, Weir Foulds LLP, Toronto
Craig Jones, Office of the Attorney General, British Columbia
Jonathan Kay, National Post, Toronto

The kenynote speaker over dinner was George Jonas of the National Post.

Justice Louis LeBel of the Supreme Court of Canada

Omar Ha-Redeye with John C. Major CC QC

Honourable Mr. Justice Ian Binnie of the Supreme Court of Canada, and The Honourable John C. Major CC QC, formerly of the Supreme Court, spoke on “The Role of the Supreme Court in Canadian Government”at UWO Law.

Omar Ha-Redeye asked the panel questions relating to access to justice, and the role of the judiciary in checking the excess of the legislature, especially as it related to minority rights.

Justice Ian Binnie of the Supreme Court of Canada