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TEACHING IN THE SFU MA-ALS PROGRAM
TEACHING IN THE SFU MA-ALS PROGRAM “Nine Years Before the Mast”
Ron Usher
In December 2020, I finished 9 years of teaching in the SFU MA-ALS degree Program. It was a remarkable privilege to teach aspiring Notaries Public as they worked diligently on the courses.
On the classroom wall in the beginning lectures, I typically put “the Oath of Office” of a BC Notary Public. (We did have in-person lectures then.) I wanted students to “begin with the end in mind” and appreciate that the point of the courses was to enable them to take the swearing of the Oath with confidence.
“I do swear that I will not make or attest any act, contract, or instrument in which I know there is violence or fraud, and in all things I will act uprightly and justly in the office of a Notary Public.”
Throughout my time teaching, there were important developments in the laws that the students needed to learn in preparation for becoming Notaries in practice.
Sometimes it felt like each class was prompted by the front page of the newspapers. Dramatic changes in the real estate market drove legislation implementing new taxes, concerns about affordability, and the need to be ever more careful about money laundering and fraud.
Most classes were primarily online, with students as far afield as Air Space Strata Plans and titles that became what is known as the Woodward’s Project.
Once during ALS 612 sessions at SFU downtown, as a group we attended a “free” real estate investment seminar. The story was told in a Scrivener article (Fall 2016, page 22) and reported in a Globe and Mail story by Mike Hager. https:// tgam.ca/2P2BOAG https://www. theglobeandmail.com/news/britishcolumbia/bc-real-estate-seminarsprey-on-house-hunters-promiseinsider-tips-lawyer/article30182672/ )
It was very important for the students to experience a “Trump University” style real estate con for themselves so they could see how easy it is to use real estate dreams as the basis for fraud.
Bermuda and Afghanistan. A few years in, I started inviting students to attend in person at The Society of Notaries Public offices in downtown Vancouver if they wished. Even when just a few—or even one— attended, it seemed to improve the process for everyone.
Along the way there were a number of very memorable classes. We did “walkabouts” in Gastown, bringing a level of reality to complex
Cropped image from Woodward’s Project Strata Plan Woodward’s Project
My illustration for learning about “encroachment.” I did a lot with these playhouses!
I came to see that the learning of the law necessary for the professional practice of a BC Notary Public was like learning a foreign language.
The students needed to master a complex new vocabulary so they could make sense of the array of legal documents and information they needed to understand so they would be able to competently “inform, explain, and advise” their future clients (Salomon v. MatteThompson, 2019 SCC 14).
They needed to learn the legal meaning of terms such as equity, escheat, easement, estoppel, and estate, to list just a few terms from the “E” section of the indexes in the thick textbooks used in the SFU courses. Duhaime’s Encyclopedia of Law http://www.duhaime.org/
Where possible, I sought to use actual examples of title searches, listed documents, and plans along with Court cases to bring life to such matters as rights of way, covenants, and an array of charges that constrain or expand the ownership rights of property purchasers.
It has been very gratifying to see the students from my classes become successful Notaries in communities all around the Province. The graduates continue to be “curious, not furious” as they use the skills and attitudes learned in the MA-ALS Program to assist their clients in safely completing what are often the most significant legal transactions of the clients’ lifetimes. s Ron Usher is General Counsel and a Practice Advisor for The Society of Notaries Public of BC.
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