QUID NOVI
Vol 43 No 10 1 Feb 2022
NCDH 305 - 3644 Peel Montréal, Québec H2A 1X1
quid.law@mcgill.ca @quidnovi.mcgill
McGill University Faculty of Law Faculté de droit de l’Université McGill
43 10
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RÉDACTRICE EN CHEF Christopher Ciafro ART DIRECTOR DIRECTRICE ARTISTIQUE Hanna Rioseco LAYOUT EDITOR ÉDITRICE DE MISE EN PAGE Souang Wu COPY EDITORS SECRÉTAIRES DE RÉDACTION Kim Baronet Zack Goobie COLOUMNISTS CHRONIQUEURES ET CHRONIQUEUSES Darien Bahry Me Katarina Daniels Vidish K Parikh CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE COLLABORATEURS ET COLLABORATRICES Amanda Bowie-Edwards Anna Pringle Kim-Lan Dam Special thanks to Prairie Koo for designing the layout. ~ The Quid Novi is published weekly by the students of the Faculty of Law at McGill University. Production is made possible through the direct support of students. All contents copyright ©2022 Quid Novi.
Les opinions exprimées sont propres aux auteurs et ne réflètent pas nécessairement celles de l’équipe du Quid Novi. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the McGill Law Students’ Association or of McGill University. Envoyez vos commentaires ou articles avant jeudi 17h00 à quid.law@mcgill.ca. Toute contribution doit indiquer le nom de l’auteur, son année d’étude ainsi qu’un titre et un sous -titre pour l’article. Les images doivent être soumises séparément. L’article ne sera publié qu’à la discrétion du comité de rédaction, qui basera sa décision sur la politique de rédaction disponible sur notre Facebook @quidnovi.mcgill.
1
1 QUID NOVI
CETTE SEMAINE...
43 10
Vol 43 No 10 1 Feb 2022
INSIGHTS
COMMUNAUTÉ
EVENTS
4 | THIS IS NOT A BOYCOTT
2 | FROM THE GELBER
3 | MCGILL CENTER FOR
6 | OUR CARS TELL US ‘JE
ME SOUVIENS’, OUR DIPLOMAS ARE REMINDERS THAT WE CAN’T FORGET
8 | LA NOMINATION DE
KENT HUGHES COMME DG DU CH La langue française au sein du Canadien de Montréal
A Few of My Favourite Things
7 | MEET THE TEAM
Darien Bahry, Coloumnist
HUMAN RIGHTS AND LEGAL PLURALISM Theory and Praxis of Reparations: Perspectives From Canada and Colombia
9 | MCGILL CENTER FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS AND LEGAL PLURALISM Wrongful Convictions: An Ongoing Conversation with David Milgaard
10 | READING IS NOT THE
ONLY WAY TO LEARN Why You Should Take at Least One - If Not More - Non-Law Courses
1
Vol 43 ● No 10
FROM THE GELBER A Few of My Favourite Things
Me Katarina Daniels| Liaison Librarian
As some of you may know, I will be leaving McGill effective February 7th, and so 3 years after I revived the library’s Quid column, this will be my last From the Gelber (but don’t worry – the column will go on!). As a little farewell, I thought I would leave you with a few of my favourite legal research resources, including tips for using them: 1. CAIJ: it will come as no surprise to many of you that my favourite resource to use for Quebec legal research is the CAIJ. As the library of the Quebec Bar, this will be a go-to resource for those of you who choose to practice law in Quebec, and some of your Bar fees will actually go towards your membership at the CAIJ. As McGill Law students, you currently have access to the CAIJ as if you were members of the Bar, so long as you have completed a consent form (which you can obtain from my colleague Ana). The top resources that live here included their annotated laws, notably the annotated CCQ; their TOPO/ guide de recherche tool, which is essentially an annotated bibliography for top research questions in various areas of law; their dossier spéciaux, which are impressive research files on specific topics like COVID-19, Cannabis law, Indigenous law, and more; and of course, access to the famous Irwin Law – Essentials of Canadian Law titles. 2. Lexis Advance Quicklaw: for their fantastic legal encyclopedias, Halsbury’s Laws of Canada and JurisClasseur Quebec (note: they also have JurisClasseur France!)
QUID NOVI • 1 FEB 2022
3. HeinOnline: we subscribe to a ton of databases within HeinOnline, including not only their incredible Law Journal Library, but also tons of subject-specific databases such as: World Constitutions Illustrated, the World Treaty Library, Art Antiquity and Law, Business and Legal Aspects of Sports and Entertainment, and much more. They have a pretty sophisticated “More like this” tool that allows you to find articles similar to the one you have found to be particularly relevant. I also enjoy their Keyword Search Builder, which is useful for those of you who find building Boolean searches a little complicated. 4. CanLII: free and amazing, and your first stop if looking for a known document (use the 2nd search bar), but generally will be the last place you turn to in your legal research process if you are looking for cases or articles to support an argument, for instance. This is because you generally want to do background research first – looking at legal encyclopedias and 2
major treatises – to ensure you understand the area of law you are researching and that you have the proper terminology. Once you’ve entered an amazing search query that you find is bringing you super relevant search results (remember to use their search operators to improve your query), be sure to create a LexBox account so that you can save the query and be alerted to new documents that match it. 5. Periodical indexes: tools that tell you if an article or book was written on a particular topic, and provide you with bibliographic information to find the item. These are particularly useful because they index just so much more than you would find by searching a single database like Lexis or Westlaw. We have access to several indices, and you can find them listed in our LibGuide, here. 6. Our amazing librarians and student reference assistants!: Having trouble finding a particular document, a case that supports your argument, navigating a particular database, understanding a citation...? Don’t suffer alone! Reach out to one of our librarians or student reference assistants and get the help you need. In the “real world,” librarians will always be there to support your efforts, whether you work in a large firm, government, if you’re in-house, or even working in a small or solo practice. Not only will you have access to librarians who work at courthouse or law society libraries, but you will also be able to contact the law librarians at McGill! And speaking of McGill library resources you have access to for life, our law subject guide in general should be bookmarked forever. This way you’ll always know the best databases to use when researching a particular area of law, and can potentially recommend a purchase to your law firm library or law society library! Questions ? N’hésitez pas à nous contacter si la bibliothèque peut mieux vous soutenir dans vos études. Pour céduler des consultations, ou si vous avez des questions de référence, veuillez contacter : Sonia : sonia.smith@mcgill.ca Ana : ana.rogers-butterworth@mcgill.ca. Nos assistant.e.s de recherche : law.library@mcgill.ca And that’s all from the Gelber! Merci et à la prochaine !
3
Vol 43 ● No 10
THIS IS NOT A BOYCOTT Anna Pringle | 2L
This weekend, Law students voted on whether to strike in response to the administration’s recent policy that forces students to return to campus in person. What is behind the strike and how is the administration responding? If we are to listen to Dean Leckey, along with others in the faculty reproducing similar discursive moves, then we ought not refer to our action as a strike because “what is at issue is a potential refusal to attend classes, rather than to withdraw paid labour.” “[T]the better term,” Leckey tells us, “is boycott,” which also happens to be another term used by the official resolution. In the arguments that follow, I hope to make clear that this weekend’s vote to strike is just that: a vote to strike. Calling it anything else is a misnomer, designed to deflect attention away from policies that hurt the most vulnerable.
QUID NOVI • 1 FEB 2022
The term boycott is often connected to the realm of consumption. When I think of a boycott, I think of consumers that vote by using their purchasing power. In a way, this image of the university retains some truth to it. Under neoliberalism, universities have adopted a model of corporatization. When certain faculty members call our movement to strike a boycott, it implies that we are consumers and their pedagogy is a commodity. Their insistence that the strike initiative is a boycott betrays a deeper set of values; a value system that sees the university as a place of profit. If these professors were committed to a vision of the university as a space of exchange where we are equal, co-creating members rather than passive consumers, they would be open to the fact that many students are currently experiencing a wide range of emotions including frustration, disappointment, and fear about the administration’s recent actions. Sadly, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Why is the university being so militant about the “in-person” return when solutions are obvious and easy (hybrid learning)? I’ve drawn two conclusions about their reluctance. First, McGill cares about its brand and reputation. There is a belief that a “hybrid” education is somehow less valuable. Second, professors and the university are fearful about losing their intellectual property. Both of these fears rest in deeply ableist and classist assumptions about what learning should be. First, idealizing “in-person” learning ignores who is excluded by it; namely, our disabled community members, caregivers, and anyone else who is unable to easily access the institution (for instance, those of us who need to work to pay for this education). Second, the concern for intellectual property is rooted in ableist and classist assumptions about who should be able to access a legal education. Why shouldn’t our universi4
ties be more online and more accessible to greater publics? How do traditional “pedagogical values” relate to systemic exclusion and historic gate-keeping in the legal profession? History of Student Strikes Even if the term boycott doesn’t explain what we are setting out to do, maybe the Faculty and administration are correct that what we are doing is not a strike. I think that this is a misguided view. The history of strikes in higher education clearly demonstrates why the term strike is appropriate. The last time I studied at McGill was during the 2012 student strike. The 2012 student strike was launched after the Liberal government announced its plan for a 75% tuition hike. I, alongside hundreds of thousands of Montrealers, marched in the streets dreaming of more equitable and accessible learning environments. By refusing to recognize our actions as a strike, certain members of the faculty are aligning themselves with Charest — Quebec’s unpopular premier at the time — who similarly tried to delegitimize the movement by calling it a boycott. While the gains of the student strike are complicated in hindsight (Charest’s departure laid the grounds for the even more racist PQ and CAQ to take the province’s political reigns), a freeze in tuition was implemented in the summer of 2012. This strike was part of a long legacy of student organizing in so-called Quebec that is largely responsible for the province having the lowest tuition in the country. All to say, calling our current efforts a “strike” has important historical precedent. In their article “The student strike is not a simple boycott,” the Association des juristes progressistes (the AJP) addresses the fact that in 2012, there were similar attempts to delegitimize the student strike. At the time, the “boycott” strategy was used not only by Charest but by the administrations of prominent universities including McGill. Yet, as the AJP rightly points out, the right to strike did not emerge vis-à-vis the Labour Code; instead, it “existed long before the enactment of this law as it originates from the working-class struggles of the 19th century.” Further, the student strike as a concept can actually be traced back to 15th century student actions at the Université de Paris. I wouldn’t be surprised if student strikes even pre-date this, but perhaps in a form unrecognisable to the West. As the AJP piece describes using recent student social movements in Chile as one example, student strikes have long been part of resistance movements globally.
The AJP emphasizes, “the student is not a client, he/she is a worker, albeit an intellectual one, who contributes, through his/her learning and academic participation, to the collective knowledge of society.” When we suspend our contributions to the academic environment of the university, we are in fact suspending our labour. Calling this initiative a boycott reveals more about the speaker than the students: if you call this a boycott, you are signalling that you think of us as consumers. Even so, one last point that is worth noting in the AJP’s analysis is that An Act respecting the accreditation and financing of students’ associations (RSQ, c A-3.01) was actually modelled after the Quebec Labour Code. Within this, there is nothing in this Act prohibiting a student association from choosing to strike. Finally, even if there are important questions to be asked about the current legal recognition of student strikes in Quebec, placing limitations on who can strike has long been a part of elite tactics to suppress movements for social change. As the union slogan goes, “There is no illegal strike, just an unsuccessful one.” The Autocratic Nature of the Institution What troubles me most about the audacity of correcting students about the “strike” phrasing is the fact that it is incredibly patronizing. It points to a larger troubling dynamic at the faculty. As students, it has become clear in recent weeks that we have little say in what is essentially an autocratic institution. During the recent town hall, students made more than clear how we felt about the university’s decision to implement a mandate to return in-person. Yet, it felt like our words were not heard. This is what forces us towards a strike: the administration has failed to meaningfully involve students and faculty in making decisions that put our lives and the lives of our loved ones at risk. The dangerous disregard that the administration has shown for students’ well-being convinces me of the need for direct democracy decision-making processes across the institution. I am confident that would be far more beneficial than any welcome lunch or visit to
the Wellness Hub. Within this, I also recognize that this dynamic pre-dates the current crisis: our Black, Indigenous, racialized and/or disabled colleagues have long borne the brunt of the institution’s failure to listen. The Worlds Strikes Build While recent years have seen tuition hikes that were not as successfully challenged as in 2012, the strike remains an important tool for re-shaping our educational institutions. The stakes of this current strike are high. As Mia Mingus argues, the push to return-to-normal is part of “abled supremacy.” Abled supremacy is taking “the luxury of in-person connection for granted and feel[ing] entitled to it, even as thousands around you die and suffer, even as you may risk prolonging and worsening the pandemic.” Quebec hospitals are full. As of the 27th of January, over 13,000 people have died in Quebec due to the pandemic. The daily death count remains in the double digits. This is what is at stake here. The effort to challenge the administration’s “return-tonormal” politics requires us to take our place within the university as active members of a learning community. As the recently released strike FAQ pointed out, we can’t predict what the pandemic will bring and we could all end up needing accommodations. Moreover, as the FAQ also discusses, our decision to strike is “part of a larger responsibility to those who have been hit the hardest by the pandemic; disabled people, elders, unvaccinated children, workers who can’t work from home, Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities, migrant workers, unhoused communities, and the Global South.” In explaining how one can practice solidarity with disabled communities, Mingus calls on us all to recognize collective safety and interdependence instead of individual comfort and pleasure. By choosing a general strike, we are centering collective safety and interdependence, and by doing so, working to re-shape the institution.
5
Vol 43 ● No 10
Our Cars Tell Us ‘Je me souviens’, Our Diplomas Are Reminders That We Can’t Forget Amanda Bowie-Edwards| 4L Kim-Lan Dam| 4L
QUID NOVI • 1 FEB 2022
Of late, much focus has been on how the current Winter semester will proceed. McGill’s administration – and, specifically, the Faculty of Law’s administration – have refused to require that professors teach using a hybrid format, which would allow students the option of avoiding in-person classes. In taking this position, McGill has demonstrated a disturbing apathy for students who may not feel comfortable attending in-person classes for any number of legitimate reasons. McGill’s decision to blindly follow government guidelines is not only careless, but also short-sighted, and may reverberate well into the future. The last 22 months have been a learning curve, wherein the student body has had to advocate for every accommodation given to us (to say nothing of the experiences of students with disabilities and others who face such challenges every day). We can look back to March 2020, when McGill Law decided to diverge from the more general (and generous) S/U policy provided to students by the wider McGill administration, for reasons that were never fully explained to us. Although the Dean would never admit this, it was student advocacy, including the work of the LSA, that eventually allowed McGill Law students to benefit from the more generous S/U policy. Alternatively, we could look to December 2020, when students at all faculties joined together to advocate for a continuation of the S/U policy. Again, it was advocacy, from students and some professors, which resulted in a return to a generous S/U policy. From these small examples, it is clear that McGill, including McGill Law, has been reluctant to fully accommodate the 6
impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, forcing us to resort to self-help. This time is no different. After a new global conscience about racial injustices emerged, McGill Law jumped to action and pledged its commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion like every other institution, scrambling to atone for the sins of its past. But this was nothing but an empty promise, meant to attract students through optimistic statistics and heartening brochures. The Faculty uses our student clubs and our photos to highlight the diversity and inclusion inside our walls – but this is only a recruiting tactic and ruse which becomes evident once our newly admitted students set foot in our halls. The shimmer behind our world-class institution suddenly crumbles when they learn that our student body may be diverse, but our administration is exclusionary and inequitable. How can we, as future jurists, push for the advancement of equality when our very own Faculty is working in the opposite direction? The deliberate choice to not provide proper accommodations directly contradicts the Faculty’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, particularly for students with disabilities, students who are parents, students living in multi-generational homes, and students of colour. The administration directs students to the OSD if accommodations for disabilities are needed, but conveniently ignores the fact that the next available appointments are during Focus Week, a time when many midterms have already been completed. Our peers who have become parents in recent years face the unjustifiable and cruel decision between the education they have strived for and the safety of their children, most too young to get vaccinated. Students who live in multi-gen-
erational homes face a similar decision too, except that they live with the knowledge that one misstep could mean that their parents or grandparents could join the ranks of our newly acquired national record of 13,000 dead. The debilitating loss of a parent or grandparent brings not only grief, but also a void of cultural knowledge, history, tradition, language. Not only are students of colour more likely to live in multigenerational households, as studies have shown, they are at a higher risk for COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death than their white counterparts and on top of that, also face systemic racism in the healthcare system. Especially in the context of Omicron, the absence of a hybrid policy at the Law Faculty is unequivocally unjust, proving that the promises the University made after its historic ties to colonialism and slavery were brought to light were simply lip-service performed for its own benefit. One might argue that it is the government that is mandating our return, and that hospitalization and death risks are relatively low for our age group. This may be true, but has our Faculty not encouraged us to think critically? Has it not emphasized the responsibilities jurists have towards their communities? Why then, are students not trusted to assess their risk tolerance and to consequently make the right decisions for themselves? Why are we being forced to put our communities at risk? And even if we divorce the individual from their community, the long-term post-infection effects of COVID-19 are also very real, even for individuals who are not considered high-risk. We are disappointed, but not surprised that the Faculty is ignoring our well-being. Five years ago, it was students’ efforts and pockets that funded and initiated a report on the mental health of students at the
Faculty. They found that two-thirds of students have experienced mental health challenges while studying at our faculty, and that half of the students surveyed believe that their experience at McGill Law negatively affected their mental health. Most disturbingly, one in five students thought about ending their life at least once in the past three months preceding the survey. In the context of the pandemic, these numbers are likely to be higher, yet substantive efforts from the Faculty have yet to be seen. Indeed, the Faculty’s current policies only increase the stressors experienced by students. The COVID-19 pandemic is a monumental and historical event marked by death and sickness. When this period will thankfully
pass, we will all reflect on our roles and experiences. As McGill Law students, we won’t be able to look back on this Faculty with gratitude for being compassionate, generous, and empathetic in this time of grief and uncertainty. It has never acted this way towards us. Instead, we will have bitter memories of the times that we had to fight tooth and nail for every inch that we received, that our demands were always met with resistance, disapproval, condescension, or a mixture of all of the above. It is no wonder then, that McGill Law’s ranking keeps slipping internationally, for contempt and disdain is all it seems to offer to its students. As our cohorts are systematically mistreated by McGill, why then, should we support this institu-
tion in the future? Surely other universities offer a better environment than McGill. There are currently over 8,000 alumni, and we invite them and future alums to reconsider future donations to and involvement at the Faculty. Do not credit McGill for your success, and do not let it take credit either. Advise prospective students to avoid McGill for the sake of their mental health and happiness. Do not come back here to teach, learn, or lecture; better opportunities will be found elsewhere. Lastly, do not open your chequebooks, especially not for the upcoming #McGill24. As McGill’s motto goes, by work, all things increase and grow. If McGill Law does not offer a change of heart, our resentment will too, increase and grow.
MEET THE TEAM Darien Bahry | 3L Coloumnist
What drew you to the Quid? I wanted to become a sports journalist and the Quid seemed like a great opportunity for me to talk about anything related to sports. What did you do before McGill Law? I did an undergrad in history at the University of Alberta. Quel était ton cours préféré avant de commencer à la faculté de droit? J’avais suivi un cours de basket pendant mon bac. C’était probablement le meilleur cours parce qu’on jouait littéralement au basket pendant le cours. Where are you from / where have you lived?
Was law school a dream come true or a happy accident? Did you want to be a lawyer?
I’m from Edmonton and I lived there my whole life before coming to Montréal.
I don’t want to say it was a dream come true – that seems kind of corny
to me not gonna lie. I did realize law school would be a good choice during my undergrad. I do want to work in corporate law, but the real dream would be to be an agent or some sort of manager in a professional sports league. Qu’aimes-tu faire quand tu n’étudies pas ? J’aime bien regarder le hockey ou parler avec mes colocs de tout et rien. J’aime aussi m’entrainer ou jouer au hockey ou au basket ou tout autre sport. As-tu un quartier préféré à Montréal? Pas vraiment. Je sais que c’est pas un quartier, mais j’adore le parc Jeanne-Mance. Où aimerais-tu travailler dans cinq ans? Dans la LNH avec les Oilers d’Edmonton. 7
Vol 43 ● No 10
LA NOMINATIONLa langue DE française KENT HUGHES COMME DG DU CH au sein du Canadien de Montréal Darien Bahry | 3L
Au Québec, le hockey est une religion.
QUID NOVI • 1 FEB 2022
Quelle autre province construit un aréna pour une franchise n’étant même pas encore arrivée à la province? Quelle autre province forma un comité spécial dans le but de stimuler le développement des jeunes joueurs et joueuses québécois afin d’en avoir davantage parmi les rangs de haut niveau? Effectivement, en ce qui a trait au hockey, « on ne niaise pas ici ». Cependant, j’ai moi-même pu ressentir qu’ici, par rapport au reste de l’Amérique du Nord, ce milieu se montre fortement politique, où les enjeux influençant ce sport sont en majeure partie de nature linguistique. Le rôle de la langue française au sein du Canadien de Montréal en constitue un exemple incontestable. Tout récemment, cela fut mis en évidence à la suite du congédiement de l’ancien directeur général du club, Marc Bergevin et de l’embauche de Jeff Gorton. Ce dernier fut nommé au poste de vice-président-directeur des opérations hockey par l’organisation québécoise. Malgré une faible maitrise de la langue française, M. Gorton démontra tout de même un certain effort lors de sa première conférence de presse. Néanmoins, cette embauche déclencha une polémique parmi plusieurs adeptes de l’équipe, ceux-ci étant convaincus que M. Gorton se devait de pouvoir s’exprimer proprement dans la langue de Molière. C’est à souligner que le cas de M. Gorton ne fut pas le premier de ce genre. Une instance similaire a eu lieu il y a de ça plusieurs ans. Au début des années 2010, le CH nomma Randy Cunneyworth au poste d’entraineur, engendrant un véritable tollé au cœur de la population québécoise. La raison? Randy Cunneyworth ne parlait pas le français. Le rôle d’entraineur porte son lot de responsabilités. Entre autres, on lui incombe de 8
communiquer aux médias avant et après les matchs. Toutefois, la SainteFlanelle se retrouva maintenant avec un coach ne pouvant converser dans la langue de la belle province. La réaction du public fut immédiate et impétueuse, certains commentateurs incitant même les journalistes à ne lui adresser la parole qu’en français1. Dernièrement, M. Gorton, souvent décrit comme le cerveau derrière les opérations du CH, décida d’embaucher un nouveau directeur général afin de pourvoir le poste vacant à la suite du départ de Bergevin. C’est à ce moment que Kent Hughes entra en scène, un Québécois qui fut agent pour plusieurs joueurs de la LNH, dont Darnell Nurse et Patrice Bergeron. Par contre, quoique bien plus minime que celle qui entoura l’affaire de Cunneyworth ou Gorton, une nouvelle controverse vu le jour : Hughes porte un nom de famille anglophone. Effectivement, un certain nombre de Québécois et Québécoise décria la nomination du nouveau DG, assumant que le patronyme de ce dernier laissait croire qu’il ne parlait, lui non plus, le français (ce qui est faux, d’ailleurs). Ceci étant dit, plusieurs polémiques ont eu lieu par rapport à l’importance de la langue française au sein du CH et il y a fort à parier qu’elles ne seront pas les dernières. Bien évidemment, l’importance historique de la langue française au sein des Canadiens de Montréal remonte au début de la franchise. L’équipe connut, au cours de son existence, une quantité impression1 https://thehockeynews.com/news/habsowner-issues-statement-amid-controversyover-coach-who-cant-speak-french
nante d’excellents hockeyeurs francophones. Les noms de Guy Lafleur, Maurice Richard, Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard et Jonathan Drouin, pour en nommer quelques-uns, ont su faire rugir les adeptes du BleuBlanc-Rouge. Néanmoins, au fil des années, la LNH vécut un changement en réponse à l’influx récent d’athlètes européens. Conséquemment, avec le temps, moins en moins de joueurs québécois et francophones vêtissent l’uniforme du tricolore. Cette nouvelle tendance semble avoir également obtenu un effet en ce qui concerne le management du club. Une augmentation fut marquée en ce qui a trait à la qualité d’éventuels DGs et de gestionnaires d’équipe alors que maints talents internationaux joignissent la ligue. En tenant compte de ce contexte en constante évolution, une question s’impose. Est-ce que le Canadien de Montréal se doit de continuer à sélectionner des entraineurs et DGs aptes à s’exprimer en français ou est-ce que ce principe entrave possiblement à l’atteinte du plein potentiel de la formation? Si l’on y réfléchit, le besoin d’engager un DG et un entraineur francophone empêche hypothétiquement le CH d’acquérir de meilleurs candidats puisqu’à compétences égales, le nombre de francophones admissibles est inévitablement limité comparé aux anglophones. Dans un business comme celui de la LNH, un sport professionnel où le succès est exigé et quantifiable, la méritocratie domine. Par définition, ce milieu est intrinsèquement compétitif — lors d’un match de hockey, soit on gagne, soit on perd. Donc, ne voudrait-on pas avoir accès aux meilleurs concurrents, même si ceux-ci ne peuvent parler une quelconque langue ? Les partisans du CH
préfèreraient-ils voir l’organisation remporter une Coupe Stanley avec le meilleur des talents possibles, que ce soit derrière le banc ou sur la glace, ou bien avoir une équipe dite plus francophone? Ces deux options ne demeurent pas pour autant mutuellement exclusives. Certains candidats et certaines candidates pourraient répondre à ces deux critères, puisque beaucoup de talent québécois existe. Cela a d’ailleurs été témoigné il y a peu lors de l’embauche d’Émilie Castonguay, agente et avocate québécoise, et maintenant assistantes-DG des Canucks de Vancouver.
Pour comprendre l’envergure de ce débat linguistique, nous devons tenir compte de l’importance considérable de la langue française au Québec, surtout par rapport à la culture québécoise. Le Canadien de Montréal représente également une partie intégrale de cette dernière. Dans une province où la majorité des gens parlent le français, cela évoquerait un sérieux coup pour de nombreux partisans de ne pas être en mesure d’interagir avec leur équipe dans leur langue. Je crois qu’il est primordial pour ceux-ci, lors de conférences de presse, de pouvoir
écouter l’entraineur, quelques joueurs et le directeur général expliquer des moments clés et leurs décisions dans un langage qui est le nôtre. À mon avis, cela permettrait de contribuer non seulement à notre compréhension de l’organisation, mais encore à notre sentiment d’appartenance. Au final, la réponse à savoir s’il est essentiel de signer des francophones au sein du club n’est pas aussi controversée que l’on pourrait être amenés à penser. Car, en effet, plusieurs Québécois et Québécoises sont adéquatement qualifiés pour accomplir ces rôles.
9
Vol 43 ● No 10
READING IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN Why You Should Take at Least One - If Not More - Non-Law Courses Vidish K Parikh | 2L
There’s a running joke in my family that I must be the only law student who passionately hates reading. “But you like to write,” they’d say half-jokingly. To which I only smile and nod….
QUID NOVI • 1 FEB 2022
This year, my second year in law school, I’ve increasingly realized just how slow I read and how tough it can be for me to acquire knowledge through reading often dense, sometimes theoretical, sources. I am not that type of person – while I certainly have improved my legal reading (and annotating) skills over the course of the last two years, my passion for data analytics and economics is still in me. Yes, it is true that reading can make you a better writer (and writing can make you a better reader), but reading legal sources is a different form of reading than reading for pleasure. It’s not always as fun. One of the core skills that law school strives to teach all of us is how to read well. That sometimes means not reading everything but knowing what to read (for example, reading the analysis section of an important case, to focus on the legal reasoning). Yet, while the ability to read is undoubtedly essential, I do feel that it remains an often over-appreciated skill. The ability to read is only one tool of many a successful lawyer needs. This is not to say
10
reading is not important or critical in some ways, but only to say that the focus on reading can at times lead to an underappreciation for the development of other, arguably more practical, skills a lawyer needs. The process of knowledge acquisition in law school is not the only way to learn. It is one system and one way. Experiential learning and other practical experiences serve as some of the best examples to show that sitting in the library and reading all day does not mean you are necessarily best equipped to plead your client’s case or that you even comprehensively understand the subject matter. The goal of reading widely is to acquire knowledge, but knowledge can be acquired in other ways. Just because you don’t read as well (or as well) as someone else, does not mean they will make a better lawyer – the ability to read fast takes practice and is helpful, but it’s more of an analytic gained through experience than a necessity to entry. With this in mind, I was excited about the prospect of taking a non-law course this term. While I still read in that course (there’s no escape!), my learnings thus far in the Issues of Native Affairs course I am taking have taught me to appreciate other modes of acquiring knowledge.
Further, they have taught me that this continuous pursuit to acquire knowledge as if it’s some end goal that one can master all there is to know simply by sitting and soaking in text is a profoundly misguided and incomplete idea. The Western method which presupposes that knowledge is an objective pursuit is not necessarily the way other cultures, traditions, and peoples – indigenous or not – learn. One of the ways to open myself up to other skills is to learn from those who have careers outside the law. I think this is true of any young adult looking to start their careers. Yes, you are a law student, and you are going to school to learn the law. Still, a law student can and does benefit from many skills not necessarily taught in law school but are vital to your development as an advocate. Take advantage of the opportunity to change pace from one umbrella of thinking and analyzing by taking non-law courses. Whether that’s an Indigenous studies course that teaches you other ways of being and knowing or an art history course, you will quickly learn how refreshing it is to proceed humbly as you try to grapple with something new. Ok, seriously, I really got to get back to my outlining now, ugh.
11