Experts argue the complaints process at Canadian law societies is vulnerable to misuse when it comes to cases against lawyers who double as politicians.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
The former head of Alberta’s human-rights commission has filed complaints with the provincial law society against New Democratic Party Leader Rachel Notley and one of her top MLAs, as aggrieved individuals increasingly rely on the professional regulator to sanction politicians.
Collin May, who is also suing the government for wrongful dismissal after losing the top job at Alberta’s Human Rights Commission last year, alleges in complaints to the Law Society of Alberta that Ms. Notley and Irfan Sabir damaged his legal and academic career by falsely accusing him of Islamophobia and racism on social media.
The LSA is a self-regulating body, overseeing Alberta’s 10,000 lawyers, with a mandate that includes enforcing a high standard of ethical and professional conduct for its members. Ms. Notley and Mr. Sabir are lawyers and therefore subject to the LSA.
However, experts argue the complaints process at Canadian law societies is vulnerable to misuse when it comes to cases against lawyers who double as politicians. Tyler Shandro, Alberta’s Justice Minister, appeared at an LSA hearing last month as the organization investigates three complaints of unprofessional conduct while he was in charge of the province’s Ministry of Health.
Robert Hawkes, a lawyer at JSS Barristers in Calgary, is among those who believe law societies are being used inappropriately to settle political scores.
“Increasingly as political opponents discover that they can make life difficult for politicians who also happen to be lawyers, the law society complaints mechanism is being weaponized,” he said.
Ian Holloway, the dean of the University of Calgary’s law school, shares concerns that law societies’ complaints process is being misused. The complaint system, Mr. Holloway said, was meant to “ensure that lawyers who were being professionally incompetent – incompetent in the performance of their legal duties – would be held to account.”
Incompetence in the political arena, Mr. Holloway said, does not necessarily equate to incompetence in the law profession.
Mr. May last week said the LSA has not yet decided whether his complaints will proceed to hearings. The cases, he said, may create precedent for whether the LSA is an appropriate venue for such disputes.
Elizabeth Osler, the LSA’s executive director, in a statement said complaints and investigations are confidential and only become public if a citation is issued and the matter is elevated to a public hearing. She noted that under the LSA’s code of conduct, a “lawyer who holds public office must, in the discharge of official duties, adhere to standards of conduct as high as those required of a lawyer engaged in the practice of law.”
The government, under the control of the United Conservative Party, named Mr. May as a part-time human-rights commissioner in August, 2019. The government appointed him as chief of the organization in May, 2022, and he took up the post in July.
Just prior to starting as chief, an online organization examined a book review Mr. May published in 2009. The article accused Mr. May of writing: “Islam is not a peaceful religion misused by radicals. Rather, it is one of the most militaristic religions known to man.”
Mr. May, in his LSA complaints, said these sentences summarized the viewpoint of the author he was reviewing and, as such, were taken out of context.
Mr. Sabir, on Twitter and Facebook, pointed to the online article to discredit Mr. May’s appointment, according to the complaints. Mr. Sabir also tried to woo one LSA bencher to join his anti-May campaign, according to the documents. Ms. Notley retweeted Mr. Sabir’s posts about Mr. May, according to the complaints. Other NDP MLAs did the same, the complaints said. Mr. May was fired in September.
Mr. May said he turned to the law society rather than the courts because his wrongful dismissal case is already moving through the justice system and that avenue is expensive. He said he plans to pursue a defamation lawsuit related to the chain of events, but noted politicians are often protected by fair comment provisions. “I may not go after the politicians,” he said.
Mr. May said he, too, is concerned about the weaponization of disciplinary processes. But in his case, Mr. May said lawyers engaged in actions against him as a lawyer, and that falls under the LSA’s purview. “We’re not supposed to bad mouth each other,” he said, noting he was unable to defend himself at the time because he was in a quasi-judicial position on the commission.
“I don’t want our political discourse to be subject to professional regulators,” Mr. May said. “But in [Ms. Notley’s] case, I think there’s also a certain level of civility in our profession and civility in politics, too.”
NDP spokesman Benjamin Alldritt in a statement said: “We stand by the comments of our members of caucus, and have nothing further to add.”
In 2018, an Edmonton lawyer filed a LSA complaint against former justice minister Kathleen Ganley, for comments she made about a case involving a jailed sexual assault victim. That incident did not result in a hearing. In 2013, an Ottawa professor asked the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society to investigate comments Peter MacKay, then the federal justice minister, made about Justin Trudeau and marijuana. The complaint was dismissed.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
