Vol 44 No 10

QUID NOVI

Vol 44 No 10 24 Jan 2023

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

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RÉDACTEUR EN CHEF Zack Goobie ART DIRECTOR DIRECTRICE ARTISTIQUE Souang Wu LAYOUT EDITOR ÉDITEUR DE MISE EN PAGE Ezequiel Indriago Perez COPY EDITORS SECRÉTAIRES DE RÉDACTION Muna Tojiboeva COLUMNISTS CHRONIQUEURES ET CHRONIQUEUSES Ali Hachem Félix Desrochers Matthias Dolhain Nicolas Kamran Sofia Watt Sjostrom CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE COLLABORATEURS ET COLLABORATRICES Andréa Biron-Boileau Dean Leckey Emma Pritchard Jeanne Mayrand-Thibert Marie-Laure Dufour ,Shi Tao Zhang 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 © 2023 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.

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QUID NOVI

CETTE SEMAINE...

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Vol 44 No 10 24 Jan 2023

INSIGHTS

COMMUNAUTÉ

EVENTS

2 | ACADEMIC FREEDOM

2 | UN MOT DU DOYEN

15 | MCGILL LAW JOURNAL

THROUGH A POWER-BASED LENS

4 | PEUR DE PARLER OU

PEUR DE NOUS ENTENDRE ?

Femmes lesbiennes contre la rhétorique transphobe

6 | WHY FREE WILL IS AN

ILLUSION, AND WHEN TO PRETEND IT EXISTS, ANYWAY

8 | WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Navigating Opportunities at the Faculty of Law

5 | OVERHEARDS

IS HIRING

10 | MEET THE TEAM Nicolas Kamran

12 | MCGILL LAW INTRAMURAL RECAP Torts Illustrated and Supreme Court Win Championships

13 | BLAST FROM THE PAST 14 | WHAT YOUR MCGILL LAW MERCH SAYS ABOUT YOU

11| CE N’EST PAS UN POISSON D’AVRIL, LE CELIAPP SERA DISPONIBLE DÈS LE 1ER AVRIL!

14 | TWENTY (TEN IN FRENCH AND TEN IN ENGLISH) AFRICAN PROVERBS TO THINK ABOUT UNDER THE SHOWER

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Vol 44 ● No 10

UN MOT DU DOYEN Dean Leckey

It has recently been a difficult time for many members of the McGill Law community. Before and especially after the talk by Robert Wintemute and associated protest on Tuesday 10 January, I have heard from many. I am grateful to those who have shared their experiences, views, and advice with me, by their initiative or in response to my invitation. I was pleased to see writing by several students on the topic in the Quid’s previous issue.

QUID NOVI • 24 JAN 2023

Something I have read or heard repeatedly is that some trans members of the McGill Law community, and their allies, may have lost confidence that the McGill Faculty of Law is a place where the rights and dignity of trans people are respected, a place where they can flourish, a place where they belong.

dian Journal of Law and Society with the same title. At the cocktail associated with that conference, the Faculty of Law launched its Everett Klippert Scholarship, which supports students who have demonstrated commitment to supporting marginalized members of our LGBTQ+ communities.

Several years later, the conference and launch of the scholarship remain high points of my time as dean. And the Faculty of Law has celebrated the efforts by its nine alumni who worked for trans rights, pro bono, in the context of the litigation leading to a trial judgment in Centre for Gender Advocacy v Quebec (Attorney General). The scholarly events I have mentioned included or centred trans voices and expertise in their planning and delivery, and recent discussions have underscored the value and importance of doing so.

Hearing this leaves me sad and sorry. One reason is my decades-long personal commitment – in my scholarship, in my service to the McGill Law community, and in my advo- In addition, in 2022, the Centre for Human Rights and cacy – to advancing trans rights and supporting trans scholars. Legal Pluralism and the Faculty of Law hosted the inaugural Michelle Douglas Lecture on the topic of equality and Another reason is that the Faculty of Law is committed to justice for LGBTI people, accompanied by the Martin Roy protecting the rights and wellbeing of trans students, faculty, Student Colloquium, which encourages student scholarand administrative staff, consistently with McGill’s Equity, ship in relation to equality and justice for LGBTI commuDiversity & Inclusion (EDI) Strategic Plan 2020–2025 and nities. The lecture and colloquium will return in 2024. with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

It’s important to me that all members of the McGill Law community – professors, administrative staff, and students – be confiYet another reason is that the McGill Faculty of Law has a dent that this is a place where they can flourish, including our history of holding trans-positive events and celebrating advo- trans members. I welcome suggestions, thoughts, and conversacacy for trans rights. A trans legal clinic has held sessions to tions about how we as a community can foster this confidence. help folks fill out the paperwork for appropriate identity documents, with support from a member of the faculty. In 2013, * * * a panel called Radical Formations: Sex, Race, Trans drew such a large number of registered guests that it was moved Par ailleurs, je suis à la recherche d’une assistante ou from Chancellor Day Hall to an amphitheatre in the Faculty d’un assistant de recherche pour l’été 2023. Vous pourof Medicine. In 2019, a two-day symposium called On the riez candidater à travers Workday (JR0000036652), et Margins of Trans Legal Change took place in Chancellor Day cela, jusqu’au 2 février 2023. J’ai souvent sélectionné Hall, leading to a path-breaking special issue of the Cana- une candidature issue de la cohorte de première année.

ACADEMIC FREEDOM THROUGH A POWER-BASED LENS Shi Tao Zhang | 2L

On January 18th, the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, published a statement expressing her concerns over the “recent events”1 that have allegedly

been undermining academic freedom in universities. A subsequent article by Le Devoir names the protest that took place on January 10th at the Faculty of Law as

an example of said events2. Professor Wintemute’s conference and the student body’s response to it have been scrutiSee Zacharie Goudreault, “Pascale Déry veut prévenir un ‘dérapage’ dans le milieu universitaire”, Le Devoir (17 January 2023), online: <https://www.ledevoir. com/societe/education/778146/pascale-dery-veut-prevenir-un-derapage-dans-le-milieu-universitaire>.

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See Pascale Dery, “J’ai envoyé hier une lettre aux universités afin de me positionner sur l’importance de la liberté académique. Travaillons ensemble pour des

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milieux exempts de censure [full statement attached].”

(17 January 2023 at 13:24), online: Twitter <https:// twitter.com/pascaledery/status/161541488486242304 1?s=46&t=CIQO48GNV8wlTSBoWlItJg>.

nized, dissected, and analyzed from a myriad of different angles by different entities (unfortunately, not always in a sensible manner). Myself being unqualified to speak on the lived experiences of trans students and community members, I will instead address a term that has been thrown around so many times that it has become devoid of its true meaning and objective: academic freedom.

The definition of ‘academic freedom’ includes different variations; the one brought forward by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) states that it is “the right to teach and conduct research in an academic environment3” and that it is instrumental to “pursue truth, educate students and disseminate knowledge and understanding4”. The phrasing makes clear that it is not the right to propagate discrimination that is thinly veiled behind baseless conjectures (is there actually credible scholarship asserting that the majority of cis women feel threatened by trans women?). The AUCC further asserts that academic freedom must be “based on reasoned discourse, rigorous extensive research and scholarship, and peer review5”, highlighting that even an accomplished intellectual’s perspective is not above scrutiny.

A statement published by McGill University in opposition to the Québec government’s Bill 32 further specifies that academic freedom must be balanced with equity and inclusivity: “We have a duty to make thoughtful, reasoned and responsible choices about what we teach and how we teach it. These choices must prioritize the learning experiences of our students, including those from groups who have historically been excluded…6”.

See Lisa Wallace, “Statement of Academic Freedom”, Universities Canada/Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (25 October 2011), online: <https://www.univcan.ca/media-room/ media-releases/statement-on-academic-freedom/>.

4 See ibid.

5 See ibid.

6 See Christopher Manfredi, “Quebec’s academy freedom bill would compromise higher education”, McGill Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) (7 May 2022), online: <https://www.

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Responsibly engaging with the effects of discrimination, then, means centering the voices of those affected instead of lending legitimacy to the ideologies of a hate group under the guise of debate.

Differentiating academic freedom from freedom of speech is also of paramount importance, since the latter is extended to all persons (not only those in academia) and is protected under section 2 of the Canadian Charter. It is, however, subjected to reasonable limits such as perjury, advising suicide, and hate speech7. This further cements that free speech is not absolute and that one should not blindly use this notion as a shield against criticisms and denunciations of what blatantly constitutes misinformation and bigotry.

Beyond theoretical definitions and legal principles, we all have the duty to be cognizant of the ways we can perpetuate systemic oppression by assimilating free speech to the ability of debating whether an already marginalized group of people deserves fundamental protections under the law. Parroting harmful rhetoric to sensationalize is inherently violent. Just because we can say some things does not mean that we should say them; and just because we choose (sometimes regrettably so) to say certain things does not mean that we are entitled to legitimacy.

Being platformed by a research centre at a prestigious university is undeniably an honour that is earned through outstanding research and scholarship on the topic in question, but no one deserves a platform simply because they “listened to [cis] women8” and now purports to speak on our behalf by speculating that the majority of us think that our rights are being threatened by trans women, but are too afraid to speak up (again, mcgill.ca/provost/article/quebecs-academic-freedom-bill-would-compromise-higher-education>.

7 See Julian Walker, “Hate Speech and Freedom of Expression: Legal Boundaries in Canada” at ss 1–3, Parliament of Canada - Library of Parliament (29 June 2018), online: <https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/ default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/201825E#a3>.

See Robert Wintemute, “The Scottish Parliament should leave the Gender Recognition Act as it is”, The Telegraph (2 December 2022), online: <https://archive.ph/osjLL>.

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I’d like to see a citation for this claim).

In Legal Ethics this semester, we learned that as future jurists, it is important to consider the power of our client in relation to the other party in our advocacy strategy, as a range of different methods can be justifiable under different circumstances. For instance, if a criminal defense attorney is representing their client against the State, zealous advocacy is an appropriate choice in light of the disproportionate power imbalance between an individual and the Crown.

In comparison a lawyer representing a powerful entity should avoid exploiting tactical loopholes and undermining the integrity of the weaker party. I find this concept similarly useful when delineating the limits of academic freedom. The sliding scale of what is considered ‘debatable’ is determined by dominant groups who hold collective and individual interests in the casual dehumanization of minorities.

As a first-generation immigrant from a country where citizens and academics are routinely imprisoned and fired for speaking up about human rights and denouncing censorship, I cannot help but remain perplexed at the idea that refraining from saying slurs or that protesting against transphobia would violate academic freedom or freedom of speech.

A power-conscious analysis of the notion of freedom underlines that punching down on minorities is not some heroic feat. Instead, it actively fosters a climate of violence against them. We, as law students with access to spheres of tremendous influence and legitimacy, must all be mindful of the ideas we choose to brand as acceptable, lest we be complicit in violating others’ human rights.

I was going to conclude this article by a call for all to prioritize compassion over callous indifference, but I came across an article that Dean Leckey co-authored with Prof. Wintemute on religious freedom 10 years ago, in which they expressed my exact sentiment: “The proper approach is to do unto minorities as we would have done unto us, if we were living in a country where we were the minority”. I truly hope that we can let these words resonate with us.

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Vol 44 ● No 10

PEUR DE PARLER OU PEUR DE NOUS ENTENDRE ?

Femmes lesbiennes contre la rhétorique transphobe

Marie-Laure Dufour|3L Andréa Biron-Boileau|3L Jeanne Mayrand-Thibert |3L Emma Pritchard |3L

Dans une entrevue diffusée à QUB Radio le 10 janvier dernier, on a demandé au professeur Robert Wintemute d’expliquer pourquoi il considérait les intérêts des personnes trans opposés à ceux des personnes lesbiennes, gaies et bisexuelles, alors qu’il y a quelques années, il les considérait compatibles.1 Le professeur Wintemute a répondu que c’est une attention aux préoccupations des femmes et son impression qu’elles avaient trop peur de parler pour elles-mêmes qui l’a poussé à militer pour l’exclusion des personnes trans des luttes pour les droits LGB.2 Plus tard, dans le même entrevue, Wintemute a exprimé son opposition au principe que « les femmes trans sont des femmes », puisque, selon lui, « biologiquement, c’est faux ».3 Robert Wintemute est membre du conseil d’administration de la LGB Alliance depuis 2021, une organisation du Royaume-Uni qui ne reconnaît pas l’existence de l’identité de genre (distincte du sexe assigné à la naissance).4 L’organisation s’oppose aux protections juridiques accordées aux personnes trans, comme la possibilité de faire reconnaître le changement de nom et de sexe.5 La LGB Alliance milite Le professeur Wintemute et la LGB Alliance suggèrent que les droits trans «conflict with the rights of lesbians and bisexual women.» (Tiré de la description de l’événement facebook du CHRPL).

2 Un professeur victime d’intimidation de la part du mouvement pour les droits des personnes transgenres? par Benoît Dutrizac et Robert Wintemute (10 janvier 2023) sur QUB Radio, Montréal, en ligne : <https://www.qub.ca/ radio/video/3-robertwintemute-1091675140>, 5 minutes 35 secondes, 6 minutes 1 seconde.

3 Ibid, 8 minutes 20 secondes.

QUID NOVI • 24 JAN 2023

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Le site web de la LGB Alliance avance que le sexe est binaire et observé à la naissance plutôt qu’assigné. Voir « Myths », en ligne: LGB Alliance UK <https://lgballiance.org.uk>.

5 Voir « Gender Recognition Act Reform », ibid.

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également contre l’interdiction des thérapies de conversion ciblant les personnes trans.6 Selon l’organisation, la majorité des personnes souhaitant faire une transition seraient en réalité des gais, des lesbiennes et des bisexuel.le.s qui préféreraient changer de sexe plutôt que d’affirmer leur orientation sexuelle.7 Ces idées ne sont ni anodines, ni neutres.

Elles sont violentes à l’égard des femmes trans, puisqu’elles consolident leur invisibilisation juridique et la négation même de leur existence. Ces idées sont le socle de la légitimation de leur exclusion sociale, de l’intimidation physique, psychologique et de la haine dont elles font l’objet au quotidien8 et alimentent des taux de suicide extrêmement élevés.9 Ces idées se matérialisent dans le réel et ces idées tuent.10 La section canadienne de la LGB Alliance affirme ne pas être opposée en principe à l’interdiction des thérapies de conversion visant les personnes trans lorsqu’elles sont réellement préjudiciables et coercitives, mais croit que les thérapies qui poussent les jeunes souhaitant entreprendre une transition à explorer d’autres options sont bénéfiques. Voir LGB Alliance Canada Chapter, « Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights Regarding Bill C-6 » (novembre 2020) aux pp 2–3, en ligne: Chambre des communes Canada <https://www.ourcommons. ca/Content/Committee/432/JUST/Brief/BR11005890/ br-external/LGBAllianceCanadaChapter.pdf> 7 La LGB Alliance affirme que « [m]ost of the time, [...] children will grow out of their gender dysphoria, and often grow up to be lesbian, gay or bisexual. » Voir « End Conversion Therapy », LGB Alliance UK, supra note 4.

8 Voir « Avoidance of Public Spaces by Trans Ontarians » (16 janvier 2014), en ligne : <https://transpulseproject.ca/research/avoidance-of-public-spaces-by-transontarians-the-impact-of-transphobia-on-daily-life/> 9 Voir «Intervenable Factors Associated with Suicide Risk in Transgender Persons » (1 juin 2015), en ligne: Trans Pulse <https://transpulseproject.ca/research/intervenable-factors-associated-with-suicide-risk-in-transgender-persons/>.

10 Voir « La suicidabilité parmi les personnes trans en Ontario » (19 septembre 2013), en ligne: 6

Nous sommes des femmes lesbiennes cisgenres et parlons aujourd’hui sans peur. Nous existons dans la foulée de l’activisme passé des personnes trans et reconnaissons tout le labeur, présent et futur, des militant.e.s trans et non-binaires pour la libération sexuelle et identitaire collective. Plutôt que d’être une menace à nos intérêts, les femmes trans – souvent noires et racisées – ont été à l’avant-scène des mouvements sociaux pour l’émancipation queer. À travers l’histoire, les femmes lesbiennes et les femmes trans ont été solidaires contre la misogynie, l’homophobie et la transphobie. Nous réitérons ce qu’exprimait une publication lesbienne des années 1970 : « nous ne prendrons pas part à l’oppression de nos sœurs.»11 Nous croyons important de souligner d’emblée que l’identité trans et l’orientation sexuelle lesbienne ne sont pas mutuellement exclusives. Opposer les intérêts trans aux intérêts des femmes lesbiennes nie la réalité de toutes les personnes pour qui ces identités convergent. Plusieurs personnes trans et non-binaires lesbiennes partagent nos vies : elles sont nos collègues, ami.e.s et partenaires.

Nous refusons que des individus et des groupes parlent en notre nom et nient notre agentivité. Nous ne resterons pas silencieuses alors qu’on tente de justifier des positions transphobes en invoquant une vision microscopique du féminisme qui met en danger les droits de l’ensemble de notre communauté 2SLGBTQI+.

Trans Pulse <https://transpulseproject.ca/research/ suicidality-among-trans-people-in-ontario-la-suicidabilite-parmi-les-personnes-trans-en-ontario/>.

11 Voir « The best fighters of each other’s oppressions: Trans and Non-Trans Solidarity in Lesbian Communities » (25 octobre 2022), en ligne : Notches Blog <https://notchesblog.com/2022/10/25/the-best-fighters-of-each-others-oppressions-trans-and-non-trans-solidarity-in-lesbian-communities/>.

La transphobie existe chez les femmes cisgenres dites « féministes », mais les frontières du groupe ne se définissent pas en fonction de l’intolérance de certain.e.s. Faire de l’existence et de l’inclusion des personnes trans un débat intellectuel valable constitue un rappel de notre propre vulnérabilité face aux forces patriarcales, hétérosexistes et conservatrices. Le fait d’accorder une plateforme et de la crédibilité au déploiement de la rhétorique anti-trans menace de remettre en question nos propres droits.

Les groupes transphobes font valoir que la pérennité des espaces non mixtes réservés aux femmes dépend de l’interdiction pour les femmes trans d’y accéder12 . Cette position est fondée sur l’idée erronée que les femmes trans sont au fond des hommes qui cherchent à infiltrer les groupes de femmes afin d’en tirer un avantage ou de satisfaire leurs désirs sexuels déviants. On les dépeint comme étrangères et menaçantes. Nous aussi, lesbiennes, sommes souvent présentées de la sorte comme prédatrices et atypiques en raison de notre orientation sexuelle et romantique. Les normes hétéropatriarcales définissent le « danger » et « l’étrangeté » afin de mieux

se maintenir et, ce, au désavantage de l’ensemble de la communauté.

Une attention - même superficielle aux prémisses de la rhétorique transphobe révèle qu’elle nous menace insidieusement. En effet, l’approche essentialiste du genre victimise des lesbiennes « masculines » parce qu’elles sont jugées ne pas être de « vraies femmes » ou encore sont perçues comme des personnes trans et sujettes à du harcèlement et à de la violence.

Cette rhétorique fait également place à l’idée que l’attirance et le romantisme « femme-femme » ne sont pas naturels.

Dissocier le « T » n’est pas un gain pour les gais et les lesbiennes, ni pour la cause plus large du féminisme. Les standards arbitraires de genre dictés par les organes génitaux menacent aussi la liberté des femmes cisgenres – queer ou non. Lorsque le genre est réduit à une conception biologisante, il perd son caractère fluide, euphorique et libérateur. Donner aux organes génitaux ou aux taux hormonaux un

caractère déterminant menace de nous emprisonner dans un rôle social fixe et dans une conception absolutiste de la féminité - l’outil de contrôle par excellence des groupes conservateurs réactionnaires. En effet, l’essentialisation du genre est directement liée à l’imposition d’un idéal de la féminité qui réduit les femmes à la maternité, la docilité et l’hétérosexualité, idéal auquel plusieurs ne peuvent pas ou ne veulent pas se conformer.

Chaque personne doit pouvoir définir son identité, la mention de sexe sur ses documents officiels et les modalités de son expression de genre sans risquer de s’exposer à la haine, à défaut de quoi les droits de tous sont menacés.

Les différentes luttes pour l’autonomie corporelle sont indissociables : le droit à la transition sexuelle et à sa reconnaissance juridique, les droits aux soins liés à l’avortement, le droit à la contraception, les droits des travailleur.euse.s du sexe et le droit d’avoir des vies et des sexualités queer sont intimement liés.

Le site web de la LGB Alliance affirme le principe suivant : « We support women’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. We stand with lesbians in rejecting pressure to accept as sexual partners, or admit into lesbian spaces, males who define themselves as women. We stand with gay men in rejecting pressure to accept as sexual partners, or admit into gay men’s spaces, females who define themselves as men. » Voir « Purpose », LGB Alliance UK, supra note 4.

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Marsha P. Johnson et Sylvia Rivera, deux militantes trans actives durant les années 1960 et 1970. Elles ont été des leaders de la révolte à Stonewall et ont lutté pour la reconnaissance des droits de toutes les personnes queer.

Source: Diana Davies/ Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

OVERHEARDS

“People say that the SAO is neo-liberal” -Professor Ramanujam

“I get dressed up for my exams because if I fail at least I look pretty” - Justine Blanchette-Sirois “Don’t on the side start a vlog about law” - Professor Adamski giving us advice in Ethics

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Vol 44 ● No 10

WHY FREE WILL IS AN ILLUSION, AND WHEN TO PRETEND IT EXISTS, ANYWAY Sofia Watt Sjöström | 2L

In CÉGEP, a beloved Professor persuaded me and my peers that we had no free will. Today, I want to share this truth with you, but also mitigate it, by explaining why, although causal determinism must be true, we should probably mostly ignore it, and live life as though we have free will. Finally, I will explain how this truth can potentially be helpful— when you are thinking not about yourself, but others.

Why Causal Determinism implies you have no Free Will According to proponents of causal determinism, prior events determine everything in advance. This means that everything that happens was bound to happen. Nothing could ever have happened in any other way. It’s not about fate, but causation— just not the kind we study in ECOs/Torts. I’m talking about the kind of long-winded, circuitous, and philosophical causation that judges refuse to consider. Why did the snail end up in Ms. Donoghue’s ginger beer?1 You could draw the line at the manufacturer’s fault2—that’s certainly the most useful take when we’re talking about who’s responsible—but you could also look backwards. For instance, what caused the manufacturer to be so absent-minded? Was something on their mind—perhaps a falling-out the night before? Pick a cause, any cause—and then ask yourself, what caused that?

QUID NOVI • 24 JAN 2023

Would Ms. Donoghue’s ginger beer have been contaminated if the manufacturer hadn’t been distracted—if he hadn’t fought with his partner—if his partner’s temper hadn’t been nurtured by a turbulent childhood—if this turbulent childhood wasn’t caused by—and so on…?

You get the idea. When you picture causation this way, the causal chain never ends. You think you hit the cause, but you’ve only ever hit a cause, because that cause was caused by yet another cause. There is no free will because nothing could have been any other way. The manufacturer could not have chosen not to be absent-minded. He had no alternative.

If you think free will requires the capacity to make real choices from a set of alternatives—and not just feel like you are making them—then he had no free will.

This goes for all other decisions, ever. You did not choose to come to law school. Nor do you choose to get out of bed every morning. You might think that you 1

See Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, All ER Rep 1 (UKHL), in Shauna Van

Praagh et al, “Extra-Contractual Obligations / Torts: Volume I” (2021-22) at 97.

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Recognizing that Ms. Donoghue’s claim was eventually settled so no fault

was established, this iconic case remains a useful, well-known fact pattern.

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actively chose to eat something healthy for lunch, but you didn’t. It was just the effect of millions of different causal factors—it could not have been any other way.

You don’t have free will. You are just the sum of your genes and the environment—your upbringing, social and economic contexts, influence by peers, books, television, and so on. Everything you do is caused by something else.

Pretend you have Free Will Causal determinism can seem useless—or problematic— especially to jurists. I will explain why I think it’s helpful in some ways, but first, I want to recognize its limits.

First of all, it’s intuitively unsatisfying. We live life as though we have free will. The feeling that we have free will is integral not only to decision-making, but, for many, it also shapes our sense of purpose and meaning. At any one moment, I feel like I could decide to do this or that or that. If I freely will myself to do so, I can work harder, exercise more, and essentially surmount every challenge before me. Similarly, I can freely choose to define myself however I like. I am a free agent—this is part of what motivates me to get out of bed every morning and stay sane.

I wouldn’t recommend letting go of that feeling— what good would it do?

Thinking we have no free will could, in fact, do some damage.

After all, our sense of free will is a causal factor in our decisions—and those decisions have effects! If I didn’t think I had free will, what might I do differently? Would my ambition be stifled? Would I put less effort into making friends, or being kind to others? Simply the belief that free will does not exist easily justifies cynicism and apathy. There is actually empirical evidence confirming this insofar as people who do not believe in free will are more likely to cheat, and less likely to work hard.3 By contrast, when we think we have free will, that causes us to make decisions more thoughtfully, as we consider ourselves responsible for them.

In a similar vein, causal determinism, and the absence of free will, are irrelevant, if not actively damaging, to a key tenet of the legal system: individual accountability. In the ginger beer example, perhaps the manufacturer’s absent-mindedness was caused by a conflict at home, but does it matter? No, because we generally want the legal system to hold someone responsible. Perhaps this isn’t as obvious in the case of a petty tort, 3

See John Tierney, “Do You Have Free Will? Yes, It’s the Only Choice” The New York Times

(21 Mar 2011), online: <www.nytimes.com> [perma.cc/2011/03/22/science/22tier.html].

so take a more jarring example: murder. Should the fact that the murderer’s genetic makeup, life circumstances and particular context causally determined their actions get them off the hook? I think a lot of people would probably say no.4 Of course, not being philosophically on the hook is not the same thing as not suffering concrete consequences. Causal determinists may argue that though criminals cannot truly be deemed guilty for their actions, there is value in holding them ‘accountable’ insofar as it deters them or others from future crime.

Causal determinism takes this a step further by saying that criminals and tortfeasors could not have behaved otherwise, given all the causal factors in their lives.

This raises questions going to the very heart of the legal system: does legal accountability amount to little more than punishing individuals for their circumstances? What, in that case, is it really worth?

Why You should Recognize Limits to Others’ Free Will So, what was the point of all that philosophy, if believing that we don’t have free will actually causes us to make worse decisions? Let me share with you my favourite takeaway from Professor Veronica Ponce’s class: Causal determinism has potential to do good, because at its best, it enables empathy. It helps us recognize that other human beings are but the limited products of oh-so-many different causal factors, and thus, never totally in control of their behaviours.

Many of us, causal determinists or not, would still be hesitant to argue for scrapping the legal system entirely. Perhaps we consider that it is important for victims to receive monetary compensation or vindication. Perhaps we consider that legal accountability serves as a deterrent—a causal factor in why people do not commit more crimes and torts.

Perhaps we want legal consequences to be preventative in other ways, by embracing rehabilitative techniques. Of course, given recidivism rates today,7 the current criminal justice system is not an ideal causal factor to those ends.

In moments where we could be angry, frustrated, or resentful, causal determinism invites reflection to cool those hot emotions. When someone else behaves rudely to me, causal determinism reminds me not to get angry or upset. It couldn’t have been any other way—perhaps they were having a bad day, and aren’t typically like this—or, they are typically like this, but their circumstances made them this way—either way, it is not truly their fault. Likewise, when I see someone do something particularly annoying, it helps to realize that their actions are but the result of myriad causal factors—and my annoyance, but the result of myriad causal factors of my own.

Accepting the premise that we want the legal system to hold people ‘accountable’ (whether or not we believe they are responsible!), we also have to draw an accountability line somewhere. As Justice Andrews says, “This is not logic. It is practical politics. … We may regret that the line was drawn just where it was, but drawn somewhere it had to be”. 8 In other words, if legal accountability seems arbitrary sometimes, it is probably because it is somewhat arbitrary. This does not mean it is not important that it exist—however, we should be careful so as not to take responsibility for granted.

Causal determinism reminds us to always consider what is going on in the background—the range of possible causes we may not be aware of in other people’s lives.

It helps us understand each other, or, at the very least, tolerate the things we cannot understand.

Causation in law is, with good reason, very different from causation in philosophy. Yet I believe jurists can nonetheless benefit from an awareness of causal determinism. It invites us to be empathetic, cautious, and always anticipating a range of causal factors beneath the surface, beyond our awareness.

This isn’t to say that you should forgive everyone for everything. Perhaps some moral accountability is merited.5 Still, it helps to moderate our expectations—and diminish our frustration when these expectations aren’t met. This can be valuable as it’s easy to get frustrated with people we do not even know.

Conclusion So, next time you’re frustrated with someone, take a mental step back and recall that all their actions are causally determined—consider the range of causes you’re probably not aware of. Let it go. Next time you read a case, consider the other side’s perspective, beyond the written material facts.

The legal system is based on the premise that people have agency, or free will—and thus, people can and should be held responsible for their wrongs and faults. However, many of us likely already accept that there is reason to at least question this premise, given that for example crime is deeply linked to circumstantial factors such as lacking employment and education, substance abuse, and mental health needs.6

Conversely, in your own life, you might want to embrace the illusion that you have free will. Doing so will likely help you make better decisions (and feel better about your life too)! That doesn’t imply chucking all these philosophical meanderings out the window, though.

Government of Canada <www.oci-bec.gc.ca> [perma.cc/cnt/rpt/annrpt/annrpt20142015-eng.aspx].

4

Actually, some law students might say “It depends”. However, that still acknowl-

edges a need for accountability at least in some circumstances.

5

7

See e.g. “Recidivism in the Criminal Justice System” (Aug 2020), online: Government of

Canada <www.justice.gc.ca> [perma.cc/eng/rp-pr/jr/jf-pf/2020/aug01.html#_ednref20].

If anyone has a good philosophical reason for this, I’d love to hear it, as the Palsgraf v Long Island Railroad Co [1928] 162 NE 99 (NYCA), in Shauna Van Praagh

reasons I can think of are primarily pragmatic and illogical.

8

See e.g. Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator 2014-2015, by Howard Sapers, online:

et al, “Extra-Contractual Obligations / Torts: Volume III” (2021-22) at 165.

6

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Vol 44 ● No 10

WHAT SHOULD I DO? Navigating Opportunities at the Faculty of Law Nicolas Kamran | 3L

Dearest Comrades and Friends,

(1) Summer Jobs

At the outset of any new experience, “not knowing what you do not know” can be unsettling. This holds true for law school.

In my first year especially, I struggled to navigate the opportunities available to me. I was uncertain about whether I was qualified for the positions I found appealing, whether these positions would be beneficial to my intellectual development, or how they would be perceived by prospective employers. I felt rather helpless. To make matters worse, it seemed as though others simply knew what to do. They had the recipe for success that I lacked—where on Earth could they have found it?

Do I need to work a “law job” in my 1L summer? If you find an interesting job that aligns with your career goals, I will certainly not discourage you from taking it. That is the path I chose. All this being said, my friends who did not work law jobs in 1L are thriving too. Some travelled, others worked at camps, and several worked service-related jobs in the city. To this day, I have not seen any potential employer use their lack of strictly law-related experience against them. If anything, employers appreciate diverse ranges of experience. What matters is what you personally retain from whatever you do, and less what it looks like on paper. People can tell the difference.

QUID NOVI • 24 JAN 2023

With time, three answers have emerged. For one, some were as lost as me. My peers were discovering this world for the first time as well and approached opportunities as they came.

In fact, they even perceived me as one of those people who just knew what to do, despite my confessed confusion. A second explanation is that they were simply more entrepreneurial. They had set themselves clear goals upon entering law school, and correspondingly sought advice from upperyear students, Faculty advisors, and professors on how to achieve them. My third explanation is more cynical than I would like: if they knew more than me, it was probably because of connections. We do not all enter law school on equal footing. Many of our peers have family and friends who have attended the Faculty of Law or who are part of the broader Canadian legal community—and have the benefit of their experience to better navigate law school. To some extent, simply knowing more about opportunities is a marker of privilege. First-generation students and those with no prior connection to our legal community are at a significant disadvantage in terms of access to information and advice.

I am by no means a first-generation university student, and I did not lack connections at McGill Law prior to admission.

And yet, I was riddled with uncertainty. In hopes of making students’ lives a little easier, I want to share some advice on how to navigate law school opportunities. Of course, anything I tell you is informed and limited by my personal experience. I am bound to leave out, mischaracterize, and forget things about each opportunity. As such, I would encourage you to consult about these things with people whose judgement you value. I am also leaving out some important opportunities for lack of time, space, or personal experience with them. These include, but are not limited to organized recruitment, moots, clerkships, legal clinics, and the LSA. I have deliberately omitted clubs/collectives from here as well. There are so many clubs at McGill Law that you are bound to find something interesting and meet lovely people— check out the kiosks on “Clubs Day” for more information!

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How do I find a job? A solid place to start is the emails sent by the Career Development Office (CDO). They include opportunities in several fields and locations—including research assistant positions here at McGill Law. I know that many people barely touch their inboxes, but you would do well to skim them at least. A second option is the Faculty of Arts Internship Office. They have postings in fields ranging from human rights and diplomacy to community organizing and advocacy. Several of your peers have obtained interesting jobs through the Office, so I would encourage you to reach out to them for a more comprehensive experience. A third option is the International Human Rights Internships (IHRIP) offered by the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP). The program offers diverse opportunities in the human rights field across the world, and it would be impossible to provide a full picture of what they entail.

Nonetheless, I know that many (including myself) have found meaningful, transformative opportunities through the IHRIP. (2) Law Journals What does being in a law journal entail?

Every law journal will obviously vary according to their capacity and organizational structure. The McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law (MJSDL), McGill Law Journal (MLJ), McGill Journal of Law and Health (MJLH), McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution (MJDR), and McGill Journal of International Law and Legal Pluralism (Inter Gentes) do not have the same resources, cover the same subject matter, and do not receive equal amounts of credits among their editorial and management teams. With that said, there are some baseline commonalities between them. Their editorial teams review footnotes for their citation style, accuracy, and usefulness, critically assess pieces for the quality of their scholarship, and run copy-edits to review their grammar and sentence structure.

Management teams will run the more “business” side of the journal. This includes hosting events, handling subscriptions, and completing more corporate-related tasks (e.g., funding and taxes). In terms of time commitment, I cannot speak with any certainty about the journals for which I have never worked.

At the MJSDL, however, I can say that associate editors will generally work a maximum of 4–6 hours per week, senior editors slightly more, and Executive Editors anywhere between 15–20. For Editors-in-Chief, it is essentially a full-time job.

Should I join a law journal? There are obvious and immediate benefits to joining a law journal. Speaking for the editorial side, you will develop a keen eye for detail, sharpen your abilities to critically assess ideas, master legal citation, and learn how to find useful and relevant sources. All these are likely to make you a better student, researcher, and potential employee—and a more attractive candidate for virtually any job. With that said, there are two main drawbacks to joining a law journal. The first is more relevant for those who go on to executive positions: it may eat up your non-course credits. You only have 15 non-course credits at your disposal here at the Faculty of Law, and no shortage of opportunities to use them (legal clinics, moots, clerkships, IHRIP, group assistant work).

Keep in mind that you cannot do everything. The second is a more pervasive problem: it is unpaid labour. For credited positions, you are even paying to work. I would be lying if I said that I had a precise or actionable solution for this issue—I need more time to think about it and will therefore abstain from proposing any policy on this matter.

Nevertheless, there is no going around the fact that you are not receiving financial compensation for your labour.

How do I join a law journal? All law journals except for the MLJ host recruitment periods in the beginning of the Fall term for students of all years. The MLJ does not take 1L students and hosts their recruitment period throughout the Winter term for 2L and 3L students exclusively. Given that the MLJ is a 2-year commitment, 3L applicants must stay on for an entire fourth year.

(3) Group Assistants (GAs) What does being a GA entail? The specific tasks demanded of GAs vary between courses and professors. However, I will try to be as accurate as I can in the describing the general experience. GAs assist instructors with in-class activities, answering student questions, and providing individual feedback. Typical tasks include holding office hours, commenting on ungraded in-class assignments, and holding exam-prep Q&A sessions. Some professors expect regular classroom attendance from GAs, others not. GAs are meant to work a limited amount of hours during the term (enough to earn their 2 credits), but this number is regularly exceeded or not met. Crucially, GAs are not TAs: they rarely design course material, deliver lectures, and do not grade assignments.

Should I be a GA? I thoroughly enjoyed being a GA and

think that it is one of the most worthwhile things to do at the Faculty of Law. You only get so many chances to help students out (especially 1Ls) on such a scale, and those chances are something to cherish. I also felt that providing feedback to students gave me better insight into how it feels to grade assignments—and therefore a greater understanding of what professors are looking for in examinations. I am an unquestionably better student for having been a GA. With that said, you will run into the exact same issues as when you join a law journal: non-course credits and unpaid labour. Ultimately, the choice is yours.

How do I become a GA? Professors and the SAO will send out an email before the beginning of the course in question asking for GA applications. If you did well in the course and/or have a good relationship with the instructor, you will have a decent chance of obtaining the position.

(4) Research Assistants (RAs) What does being an RA entail? RAs generally help professors advance their research agenda—typical tasks include footnote edits, literature reviews, case law analysis, and memos. Beyond that, you may be invited to help write articles, book chapters, and even contribute to more public-facing work like op-eds and symposium presentations. Hours and pay depend on the professor and the work contract you sign with the University.

Students with post-graduate degrees are typically better paid.

Should I be an RA? If you are interested in a professor’s work, there are few opportunities more worthwhile than being an RA. It is a fantastic way to get involved in cuttingedge scholarly debates, learn more about something you care about, and sharpen virtually every academic skill you have. Another advantage is simply getting to talk to your professors more. I realize that this may not be an exciting prospect to many—but I have found that conversing with professors has taught me how to ask better questions, and that’s an invaluable skill regardless of your career aspirations.

How do I become an RA? 12Twenty and Workday Careers regularly host RA offers throughout the year. Another option is to simply email professors whose work you admire and ask them whether they are currently looking for research assistants. It can certainly be a daunting task—but if you are genuine and kind, you should have no reason to worry.

(5) Term Papers What is a term paper? You can write an 8,000–10,000word paper over a term under the individual supervision of a professor for 3 credits. Students write term papers for a whole host of reasons. Namely, because it satisfies the writing requirement for your degree, is not subject to enforced McGill Law grading averages, and is a great opportunity to work closely with a professor. To my knowledge, you can write 3 term papers during your degree.

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Vol 44 ● No 10 How do I pick a supervisor? If you have done well in a particular professor’s course, or are interested in their research, you should email them during the term prior to which you want to write your paper. They may accept or refuse to supervise you depending on their prior engagements, your pre-requisites (you should probably not propose a paper topic on IP Law without having taken IP), and the feasibility of your topic. Be sure to generally ask around about professors’ style of supervision, for your term paper experience will vary depending on who you have chosen. Some are more hands-on: they will help shape your arguments, provide you sources, and expect regular updates on progress. Some are more hands-off and will do none of that. Many are flexible vis-à-vis topics, form, and word counts. Others are fairly rigid. It would be a great idea to get a feel for these things before starting.

How do I pick a topic? A lot of student papers aim to summarize the main points of view surrounding a certain issue,

which can be easy to write and research, especially if it’s a well-known issue. But it may also leave little room for originality, and that can hurt you in the end. Other people write papers that advance a novel argument about a given issue.

This can make for creative and valuable writing but is obviously harder to do. In either case you will need to substantiate your claims—but advancing something genuinely new can feel like walking on a tightrope. Usually, people write to fill “gaps in the research.” This means advancing a specifically unexplored claim within a broader (and more established) analytical framework. Doing so can be a solid starting point. But I would urge caution: the narrower the better. People may disagree with me about this, but I find that an in-depth analysis of a niche topic is more valuable than a surface-level take on something broad. Of course, this is not zero-sum. Still, my general take is that there is always way more to write on something than you think.

With all this said, I wish you a wonderful beginning of semester!

MEET Columnist THE TEAM Nicolas Kamran | 3L

QUID NOVI • 24 JAN 2023

What drew you to the Quid?

Where are you from / where have you lived?

Je suis né à Montréal et j’y ai toujours vécu. Cependant, mes parents ne sont pas originaires d’ici : ma mère est venue au Canada de l’Iran et mon père de la Belgique.

J’ai souvent visité ce dernier, mais jamais l’Iran.

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I must admit, against my better instincts, that I have a soft spot for the polemical.

Student-run forums are at their best when they become places for debate, confession, humour, knowledge, outrage, division, and solidarity. The Quid seemed like it could be just the place for that.

Recently, I have been more drawn to using the Quid as a space for sharing knowledge with newer cohorts. I want the Quid to be a friendly and compassionate space more than anything else, even in cases of stern disagreement.

What did you do before McGill Law? J’ai complété un DEC en profil « Sciences, lettres et arts » au Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf.

En gros, je ne savais pas trop ce que je voulais faire à 16 ans.

Mais j’étais très ambitieux et sans doute un peu arrogant.

Quel était ton cours préféré avant de commencer à la faculté de droit?

J’ai adoré mes cours de philosophie et de littérature au CEGEP (comme tout bon étudiant en droit).

Je conserve néanmoins un attachement à mon cours de chimie organique et surtout à mon professeur de biologie.

Was law school a dream come true or a happy accident? Do you want to be a lawyer?

As a prospect, law school is never particularly far away in the minds of the ambitious and privately schooled.

What I knew for certain is that I cared about words and people—and that I could find like-minded people at McGill Law. I have been right so far.

As for the whole lawyer thing, I cannot be so sure.

The legal profession is a

noble one, and I admire so many of the public defenders with whom I have worked.

But at the same time, I think that a career in academia would likely suit me better.

Qu’aimes-tu faire quand tu n’étudies pas ?

Je me suis enfin mis à regarder des séries télévisées de manière régulière! A part ça, j’adore lire.

As-tu un quartier préféré à Montréal?

J’ai toujours eu un faible pour le « Student Ghetto », mais je demeurerai fidèle à Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

Où aimerais-tu travailler dans cinq ans?

The dream would be graduate school! Quite frankly, anywhere where I can flesh out ideas in writing would be great.

CE N’EST PAS UN POISSON D’AVRIL, LE CELIAPP SERA DISPONIBLE DÈS LE 1ER AVRIL! Félix Desrochers | 1L

Avertissement : Le présent article est à vocation informationnelle seulement.

Il ne vise pas à donner quelque conseil financier que ce soit. Les informations proviennent exclusivement de l’analyse de la Chaire en fiscalité et en finances publiques de l’Université de Sherbrooke, « Les paramètres du nouveau compte d’épargne libre d’impôt pour l’achat d’une première propriété (CELIAPP) », coécrite par Luc Godbout et Natalie Hotte. Pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez vous y référer ou en discuter avec des professionnels agréés.

Pour plusieurs étudiants, l’accès à la propriété semble un projet irréalisable dans le contexte économique actuel.

Durant la pandémie, la surenchère dans le marché immobilier a mené à une flambée des prix exorbitantes. Par la suite, les hausses successives du taux directeur par la Banque du Canada, afin de freiner l’inflation, ont eu pour effet inéluctable d’augmenter les taux d’intérêt sur les prêts hypothécaires. Rien ne va plus pour ceux qui rêvent d’être propriétaires!

Heureusement, le CELIAPP verra bientôt le jour. Comme son nom l’indique, il s’agit d’un régime d’épargne ayant pour objectif de permettre aux Canadiens de mettre des sous de côté en prévision de l’achat d’une première propriété.

Grosso modo, le CELIAPP est comme la fusion parfaite entre le compte d’épargne libre d’impôt (CELI) et le régime enregistré d’épargne-retraite (REER). Non seulement les cotisations qu’on y fait sont-elles déductibles d’impôt sur le revenu, mais les gains en capital qui peuvent en découler par des investissements demeurent à l’abris de l’impôt.

Cela voudrait dire qu’une personne ayant gagné 50 000$ dans l’année fiscale et qui a cotisé pour 8000$ dans son CELIAPP dans la même période, par exemple, serait imposée pour seulement 42 000$ de son revenu, ce qui entraine

aussi une diminution du taux d’imposition marginal. En plus, les retours sur investissement, au moment du retrait pour l’achat de la propriété, ne sont pas imposés. Je ne sais pas si je suis le seul à saliver en apprenant ça. Sûrement pas!

même aux limites de cotisation du REER du particulier, lui permettant de bénéficier d’un REER mieux garni.

1. être résident canadien 2. être âgé de 18 à 71 ans 3. dans la partie de l’année précédant l’ouverture et dans les quatre années précédentes : • ne pas avoir vécu dans une habitation au Canada dont notre conjoint.e était propriétaire • ne pas avoir été propriétaire soi-même

Selon Luc Godbout, coauteur de l’analyse, les citoyens admissibles devraient commencer le plus tôt possible à cotiser à un CELIAPP pour deux raisons. En premier lieu, étant donné que le particulier vivant chez son ou sa conjointe n’est pas admissible, il est préférable de s’ouvrir un compte avant que cette probabilité puisse se matérialiser. La deuxième raison est purement politique. Puisque le parti fédéral au pouvoir est minoritaire et qu’un véhicule d’épargne similaire avait été aboli par le Parti conservateur en 1985, il est peut-être plus prudent de se prévaloir de son droit à l’ouverture d’un CELIAPP avant les prochaines élections.

Dans le régime, les cotisations annuelles maximales s’élèvent à 8000$. De plus, le maximum des cotisations à vie est de 40 000$. Il est important de respecter ces limites, car à l’instar du CELI et du REER, les cotisations excédentaires sont imposées à 1% mensuellement, ce qui peut faire très mal au portefeuille. Les droits de cotisation non-utilisés pendant une année sont ajoutés à l’année suivante, comme pour le CELI et le REER. Il est important de noter que les rendements et ultimement le retrait pour l’achat d’une première propriété ne sont pas imposables, tant que ce dernier est effectué dans les 15 années après l’ouverture du compte. En outre, puisque plusieurs CELIAPP peuvent être ouverts en même temps en respectant les limites de cotisation, comme pour ce qui est du CELI et du REER, il est crucial de préciser que la période de 15 ans commence dès l’ouverture du premier compte.

En pratique, toutefois, le CELIAPP est loin d’être parfait. Il est surtout problématique que la loi permette les transferts d’un CELIAPP à un REER sans prendre en compte le calcul des droits de cotisation inutilisés dans le REER. D’abord, la possibilité de posséder un CELIAPP, en plus d’un CELI et un REER, risque d’être particulièrement avantageuse pour les jeunes provenant de milieux plus fortunés, ayant les moyens de contribuer aux trois véhicules de placement. De plus, un fin renard ayant reçu un héritage ou ayant d’excellents moyens financiers pourrait acheter une maison, sans retirer l’argent de son CELIAPP pour se faire, et continuer de cotiser jusqu’au montant maximal sur son CELIAPP pour ensuite transférer, à l’abris de l’impôt, les montants cotisées en direction de son REER. Encore une fois, les outils créés pour aider le Canadien moyen profiteraient davantage aux plus riches.

Enfin, celui qui décide de ne pas acheter de propriété après 15 ans peut transférer les cotisations de son CELIAPP vers son REER sans en souffrir fiscalement. Les fonds s’ajouteront

En conclusion, cela ne rend pas le CELIAPP moins pertinent pour ceux, dont la majorité des lecteurs du Quid Novi, qui veulent acquérir une première propriété.

Concrètement, pour pouvoir s’ouvrir un compte, il faut :

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Vol 44 ● No 10

MCGILL LAW INTRAMURAL RECAP Torts Illustrated and Supreme Court Win Championships Zack Goobie| 3L

The McGill Law fall intramural season ended in December with two teams winning championships. This was a very successful fall for both squads as they faced heartbreaking losses in the past.

Torts Illustrated Torts Illustrated, McGill Law’s hockey team, was initially created by alumnus Marcus Mattucci in 2021.

That squad lost in the semifinals last fall, and some players were back looking to revenge their heartbreak.

The team did not have a stellar regular season, only winning two of seven games. This included a 10-0 loss to the MBA Synergies, a team they would face in the semi-finals. This did not stop the team from having an incredible playoff run, winning their semi-final and final matchups 7-5 and 3-2 respectively.

They were fuelled by the veteran presence of KC Moore, Matt Tse, Keihgan Blackmore, Darien Bahry, Evan Schryver, and Benjamin Brown. This team refused to lose with a decisive win in the semifinals, despite a strong push by the MBA Synergies in the final 10 minutes.

The final game was a nailbiter. Evan Schryver, Vincent Élie and Michael Waxman provided the offense. Schryver scored from an impossible angle and Waxman’s goal with less than five minutes to play from the left circle broke the deadlock.

Bahry said a big part of Torts Illustrated’s success was chemistry.

QUID NOVI • 24 JAN 2023

“I think it comes down to teamwork, we played as a team...

There weren’t a lot of individuals out there, we played as one unit, and everyone contributed what they could”.

Despite the elimination games being held at the height of exams, the team found a way. Brown noted the fight that this team had, “we just didn’t give up, priority was hockey”.

Despite losing their opening match of the winter 2023 season, the team has high hopes to repeat as champions.

Supreme Court McGill Law’s open division basketball team, Supreme Court, was crowned champions of the fall 2022 season.

This team has a long history, starting in 2019 when the 4Ls on last semester’s squad were 1Ls. This team was led offensively by 4Ls Keihgan Blackmore and Cassandra Betts. Blackmore was able to push the pace on the offensive end all semester while Betts was clutch in the midrange. Conrad Deer, Darien Bahry and Robyn McDougall paced the team defensively.

Despite a positive 4-2 record in the regular season, the championship was heavily contested.

The Supreme Court played the Monstars in the finals, a team that they had previously lost to 44-29. However, the team was able to adjust and come away with a convincing 49-33 victory to be crowned champions.

Betts credited a defensive adjustment for the team’s success. “The biggest technical [adjustment] was switching defense from a man-to-man defense to a zone defense. Because of that, we were able to stop a lot of inside plays, which was a problem for us.”

For many 4Ls, this was their last intramural basketball game.

It is hard to imagine a better way to cap off their career.

Blackmore described his last intramural season as a McGill Law student, “I could not have asked for a more storybook ending; it was the culmination of three years of hard work.”

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BLAST FROM THE PAST We hope that you are inspired by this 2007 Quid writer to make your New Year’s Resolution to write for the Quid more often

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Vol 44 ● No 10

WHAT YOUR MCGILL LAW MERCH SAYS ABOUT YOU What are you communicating to your colleagues based on your seemingly unrememberable McGill Law hoodie? We are here to tell you!

Toque: You were probably a stoner in undergrad and have tried to cut back since starting law school. It’s not going well. If you wear your toque during the winter, you are probably just trying to stay warm for your smoke break. If you are wearing it during any other season, you are probably trying to signal to the locals that you listen to indie rock.

Hoodie: A classic, but debating what colour to order revealed that you didn’t get as great a handle on your anxiety disorder over the summer as you thought. If you ordered it in a size that fits properly, you are type A+

and should hang out more often with someone wearing a McGill Law toque.

If you ordered it four sizes too big, you are looking for a reason to wear leggings on campus without drawing attention to them, given that half of your classmates are in business wear.

Quarter Zip: You probably ordered this immediately after accepting your offer to McGill. It tells others that you’re better than them, and will sue, without telling them you’re better than them, while you actually never learned the proper codal articles to figure out how to initiate a lawsuit in Quebec.

Anything with BCL/JD written on it: If on your McGill Law merch you opted to have BCL/JD written on it, you are a CEGEP student who wants to show

your colleagues at John Abbot that you are getting TWO degrees, not just one.

Anything with a custom initial or name embroidered on it: If you have your name or initial embroidered on the sleeve, your parents ordered this for you and are very proud. Call them and tell them how much you love them, but also that you are embarrassed, they ordered you a hoodie with your initials on it.

McGill Law Journal Merch: If you wear McGill Law Journal Merch, you want people to know that you are part of an institution that has been cited numerous times by the SCC. You will, however, continue to refuse to answer your friend’s questions on citations in an attempt to keep the McGill Style Guide allusive enough that its upkeep merits non-course credits.

TWENTY (TEN IN FRENCH AND TEN IN ENGLISH) AFRICAN PROVERBS TO THINK ABOUT UNDER THE SHOWER

QUID NOVI • 24 JAN 2023

Ali Hachem | 3L

1/ Que celui qui n’a pas traversé ne se moque pas de celui qui s’est noyé.

8/ Si tu prends la route de Je M’En Fous tu arriveras au village de Si Je Savais.

15/ The axe forgets but the tree remembers.

2/ Le monde a beau changé, les chats ne pondront jamais.

9/ Avancer c’est mourir ; reculer c’est mourir ; donc mieux vaut avancer et mourir.

16/ No matter how beautiful and well-crafted a coffin might look, it will not make anyone wish for death.

3/ Un grain de maïs a toujours tort devant la poule.

4/ Si tu regardes une image très laide, vérifie que ce ne soit pas ton reflet.

5/ On est plus le fils de son époque que le fils de son père.

6/ Le chien a beau avoir quatre pattes, il ne peut emprunter deux chemins à la fois.

7/ On répare le trou d’un vêtement, mais pas le trou de la bouche.

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10/ C’est pendant que le vieux seau est encore là qu’il faut en fabriquer un neuf.

11/ Rain beats the leopard’s skin but it does not wash out the spots.

12/ No matter how hot your anger is, it cannot cook yams.

13/ If your only tool is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail.

14/ No shortcuts exist to the top of a palm tree.

17/ The earth is a beehive, we all enter by the same door.

18/ If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try spending the night with a mosquito.

19/ Don’t be so in love that you can’t tell when it’s raining.

20/ If money were to be found up in the trees, most people would be married to monkeys.

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QUID NOVI • 24 JAN 2023

Vol 44 ● No 10

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QUID NOVI • 24 JAN 2023

Vol 44 ● No 10

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