The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/1484187
FEATURE 12 www.canadianlawyermag.com CROSS EXAMINED practised commercial, contract, infrastructure and energy litigation. After building "the good habits and learnings from being a litigator and [practising at] a serious litigation shop," Sinha says his role grew to that of special advisor for clients in high-stakes circumstances at the intersection of business law and politics. As his practice morphed into this advisory role, Matthew Peters, who leads the firm's innovation efforts, approached Sinha about creating a public sector group at the firm. Along with co-leaders Gillian Kerr, a liti- gator, and Matthew Kelleher, a corporate lawyer, Sinha helped launch the group. "The public sector group was our way of organizing something we … already had been doing in different ways for a few years and introducing ourselves to the market in that way." Pre-pandemic, Sinha's work with the LCBO involved advising the Crown corpora- tion on the regulatory and commercial struc- ture for the creation of the Ontario Cannabis Store, the largest cannabis-purchasing entity in the world. "It was a great benefit to be able to bring some thinking to the table that was about what's possible, and methodically thinking about regulatory frameworks and what they're supposed to do, rather than just craft the way we've always done it," says Sinha. But when the pandemic hit, the public "There was no law. There was no legal precedent. And you might remember people were talking about Charter violations or human rights code violations from having vaccine mandates in offices" sector group was tested even more to think in unprecedented ways. Sinha's group helped advise OLG on the immediate shutdown of all casinos and table- gaming facilities in Ontario at the start of the pandemic. Later, the group also acted for MLSE in its regulatory, public health and government negotiation processes for the return to play for the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and the Major League Soccer in Canada. This work included MLSE's winning bid to host the 2020 NHL "playoffs bubble" in Toronto and the 2021 return from Tampa Bay of the Toronto Raptors for the 2021–22 season. "It was an extraordinary legal and profes- sional journey," Sinha says. "I feel really blessed to be a part of it.… I'm proud to say that there wasn't a single case of COVID from the NHL bubble in Toronto." However, his group's work during the pandemic with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Toronto Regional Board of Trade was perhaps its most complex. Sinha helped these business groups create the VAX-PASS Tenets, a set of guide- lines to develop community standards for vaccine verification. "There was no law," Sinha says. "There was no legal precedent. And you might remember people were talking about Charter viola- tions or human rights code violations from MT | PUBLIC SECTOR GROUP McCarthy Tétrault's public sector group's mandates have included: Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment: regulatory, public health and government negotiation processes for the iterative return to play VAX-PASS Initiative: the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Toronto Regional Board of Trade creation of the VAX-PASS Tenets Ontario Lottery and Gaming: the coordinated immediate shutdown of all casinos and table-gaming facilities in Ontario Liquor Control Board of Ontario: the creation of Ontario Cannabis Stores, the largest cannabis-purchasing entity in the world having vaccine mandates in offices." In addition to providing more clarity for businesses on how to approach their return to the office, the guidelines prompted the Ford government to pass legislation. Most recently, Sinha advised Cadillac Fairview when it had to shut down its mall in Ottawa during the trucker protests. For Sinha, it was yet another situation in which reliance on precedent would not suffice. "In all these examples, you would have done poorly to try to wish away the novelty of the situation and not face it head on…. We've been living in an age of what I call the 'Great Unprecedented.' I've been blessed to have a practice that fits with that."