Canadian Lawyer

November 2020

The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers

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www.canadianlawyermag.com 13 upon authorities to drop the charges against Godbout if they pertained solely to the assailed passage in Hansel and Gretel. The right to free expression is safeguarded by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations, the organization said in its release. "This is a test case for the Crown and they are trying something that has never been tried in the past in Canada, from my under- standing," Jean-Philippe Marcoux, Godbout's counsel, stated to PEN International. "We strongly believe that considering the law and the jurisprudence here in Canada, this novel does not constitute child pornography." "Local accounts suggest that the novel is not marketed to children nor does it have any graphic imagery, so one questions how it can be reasonably argued that the passage reaches the required threshold of harm to negate any exemption based on artistic merit," said Salil Tripathi, chairperson of the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International, in the release. The province of Quebec has a period of 30 days within which to appeal the decision. Tommy Tremblay is CBA- Quebec's new president Q&A Fast facts: » Years in law practice: 20 » Career highlight: Becoming president of the CBA's Quebec branch! Tommy Tremblay President QUEBEC DIVISION, CANADIAN BAR ASSOCIATION On July 1, Tommy Tremblay of Langlois lawyers became branch president of the Quebec division of the Canadian Bar Association for 2020-2021. CBA-Quebec represents 2,200 lawyers, judges, notaries, law professors and law students. The Montreal-based civil litigator and partner has belonged to the CBA for 20 years. How does your background assist you in your new position? I have been a member of the CBA since 2000. I was attending conferences and activities of the CBA, and I started to be involved more around 2012 with the business law section for the Quebec division, and [with] the executive committee for that section. I became the president of the business law section of Quebec; that brought me to the national business law section, and last year I was [its] president. As a commercial litigator and a certified corporate director, I am often involved in management issues that have a legal impact; I enjoy that aspect of my practice, of being close to management, the boards of directors of companies, and I have a clear understanding of what's going on, their issues and challenges, in order to become a better advisor, to meet their needs and help them. CBA-Quebec plans to focus on the needs of lawyers that have resulted from the pandemic, is that right? Absolutely; we are very aware of the challenges and the legal impacts of that pandemic, which is worldwide. And, of course, we've been affected in Quebec, in different businesses, as in all other provinces in Canada. The CBA as a whole is a very strong organization and supports its members. I'm confident we'll get through [this pandemic], but we need to work together as an association and also with other organizations — with the law firms, with in-house counsel, with the judiciary — so that the whole system can continue to work properly and even be more efficient than it is now. "I can't believe that in 2020 people are making connections between an author and his characters."

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