Canadian Lawyer

of contention. McLachlin, a dissenter in the 1990s, joined the majority this time around. "The court is so very pragmatic and so very cautious that . . . we're not seeing a whole lot of evolution in judicial theory about Charter rights and democratic limits," says Cameron. "I think that to some extent the result is that the Charter's potential is on hold at the moment." Cameron contends there is not only a drop in debate over pressing issues, but also a "downward spiral" of victories for Charter claimants. Success rates, which historically have been about 45 per cent, have not risen above 20 per cent in the last three years, she says. McLachlin flatly rejects suggestions the quest for unanimity can produce bland rulings that omit edginess or sacrifice principle. "I think most of us aren't very good at watering down, we're pretty good at standing our ground, and if we feel strongly about something and if we're not convinced we should change something, we won't. I think it would be a very bad mistake for a judge to ever say 'I will leave out something I feel strongly about, I will change something I really care about, something I believe.' I think that's the wrong thing for a judge to do, a judge would always regret doing it, and it's not done, we don't do it. So it's more about trying to understand each other and to eliminate misunderstandings than to water down the jurisprudence. We never horse trade, I don't think, on things that matter." Meehan speculates the perception among some lawyers that the court is more cautious — and even more conservative — under McLachlin can be attributed to the sort of appeals increasingly appearing on the docket. "The reality is the court is dealing with normal law now, they're dealing with tax, with family, with business, with corporate law, intellectual property, mergers and takeovers, and it may be that simply because they're dealing with more areas of law than they had hitherto done, it's possible that some people see a move to the right, where in reality it's simply a move to more businesslike cases." McLachlin, while she has no inside knowledge of appeals that will come before the Supreme Court in the next couple of years, predicts the court could take on more cases dealing with communications, commercial law, boundaries between federal and provincial jurisdiction, Charter issues involving clashing rights in Canada's multicultural society, aboriginal land claims, and review of federal legislation on crime and punishment. She did not specifically mention other highly charged cases: a ruling on the legalization of prostitution is in reserve, and another lower-court case dealing with the right to assisted suicide could easily reach the Supreme Court in the foreseeable future. Whatever the case, McLachlin shows little inclination to alter the course on her respected and established management style in the autumn of her Supreme Court career. "We take the cases we're given, and that come before us, and we try to do the best on each of them," she says. "The future lies ahead, and there will be new challenges, but I am very proud of the Supreme Court of Canada." SPECIALIZATION IN BUSINESS LAW Part-time, Executive LLM program for corporate counsel and practising lawyers Taught by U of T Faculty of Law professors, together with top international faculty from MIT-Sloan School of Management and expert practitioners. TIME: EVENT: For more information, call 416-978-1400 or visit: http://www.law.utoronto.ca/programs/GPLLM.html Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) - Ontario Chapter and in partnership with Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business. LLM_IH_Apr_13.indd 1 www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m J u ly 2013 31 13-02-26 4:07 PM

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