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LU prof takes aim at 'forced speech' by Law Society of Ontario

Ryan Alford was part of a slate of candidates elected as Law Society benchers.
Ryan Alford
Lakehead University law professor Ryan Alford (www.lakeheadu.ca)

THUNDER BAY — A Lakehead University law professor who took the Law Society of Ontario to court over its controversial "statement of principles" now plans to fight the battle from within.

Ryan Alford has plenty of support for his efforts, after he and 21 other lawyers across the province who share his views recently won election as LSO benchers. Benchers operate similarly to a board of directors.

Alford believes the LSO's decision two years ago to mandate that lawyers acknowledge and abide by an "obligation to promote equality, diversity and inclusion" in their behaviour towards colleagues, staff, clients and the public is not supported by the society's Rules of Professional Conduct, and violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The LSO established the SOP as part of its Accelerating Culture Shift initiative aimed at breaking down barriers faced by lawyers belonging to racial minorities.

Alford initially applied to Superior Court to strike down the SOP, but the case was moved to Divisional Court at the request of the law society, and remains unresolved.

He said he and like-minded lawyers came to the decision that "a political solution" would likely be accomplished more quickly.

"We just all decided there was really no way [lawyers] could keep themselves in this position, of having to file these annual reports, not knowing whether the law society was going to bring them up on disciplinary charges for failing to check the required box, or produce the required statement," Alford told Tbnewswatch.

The group ran as a slate in the benchers' election last week, and all 22 were elected by margins he described as "completely unprecedented."

They constitute a majority of the 40 lawyers who serve as benchers. 

There are also five paralegal benchers, and eight lay benchers appointed by the provincial government.

Alford said it remains to be seen what position these members will take, but he is optimistic the SOP will be repealed.

"I feel fairly confident we will be able to put together a working majority, because the writing is on the wall. This was the number one issue in the election, and there was clearly a sea-change in the membership. They made their feelings known loud and clear," he said.

In an interview in 2017 after he filed the court application, Alford said no one denies that systemic barriers faced by some lawyers are a severe problem that the law society should address, but the LSO was going too far in this instance and was engaging in "forced speech."

"When you have a pressing problem that you want to address...the really significant barriers that young, racialized lawyers face when they're entering the legal profession...we kind of lose sight of the fact that jettisoning the view of our legal restrictions or the constitutional limits on what we can do might have really dangerous effects as precedent," he said at the time.

 



Gary Rinne

About the Author: Gary Rinne

Born and raised in Thunder Bay, Gary started part-time at Tbnewswatch in 2016 after retiring from the CBC
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