Fifteen new faces will be joining Convocation following Law Society of Upper Canada bencher elections that wrapped up on Friday.In Toronto, the newcomers are Wendy Matheson, Janet Leiper, Barbara Murchie, William McDowell, John Callaghan, Malcolm Mercer, and Howard Goldblatt. Returning stalwarts from across the province include Treasurer Laurie Pawlitza, Raj Anand, Linda Rothstein, Beth Symes, Constance Backhouse, Thomas Conway, and Judith Potter among others.
University of Ottawa law prof Backhouse got the most votes with 5,534; Pawlitza was second at 5,421.
See the attached document for a full list of the 40 elected benchers, visit the law society’s web site.
Eight of the new benchers come from outside Toronto. In the central east region, Robert Evans takes a spot at Convocation. In the central south region, the newcomers are Joseph Sullivan and James Scarfone. In the central west region, Virginia MacLean is the new face at the law society. Out east, both Adriana Doyle and Robert Wadden are fresh representatives for their region. Rounding out the list of newcomers are Michael Lerner and Jacqueline Horvat in the southwest region.
Today’s federal election overlaps with at least one of the winners in the law society vote. Carol Hartman, who’s carrying the banner for the Liberals in Sudbury, Ont., won re-election as a law society bencher. With the polls showing her party in trouble, possibly in NDP-friendly Sudbury, it might be the only victory she celebrates today.
Voter turnout in the law society elections was 37 per cent. That’s up slightly from 34.5-per-cent participation in 2007. Besides the elected benchers, Convocation also includes life and ex-officio benchers as well as lay and paralegal representatives.
For more further coverage and analysis, see next week’s Law Times.
