Canadian Lawyer

Regional wrap-up First female justice minister for Nova Scotia Continued from page 7 the new minister, however; she worked there as a page while an undergraduate at Saint Mary's University in Halifax.) Diab's appointment makes history. The practising lawyer and small business owner has become the first female attorney general and minister of justice in Nova Scotia. An active member of the Lebanese community and the first female president of the Canadian Lebanon Society, Diab is educationally diverse. She has a BA in economics and political science, a master's of public administration, and an LLB. She was admitted to the bar in 1991 and prac- tised law until her recent election. As an active member of the Canadian Bar Association, Diab spearheaded Law Day citizenship ceremonies in the province. Her priorities remain to be seen. Justice issues were not mentioned in the Liberal party's 26-page platform document nor on its campaign platform web site. — DM Central Quebec judge facing investigation by CJC 8 Jan uary 2014 www.CANADIAN commission of inquiry on the awarding and management of public contracts in the construction industry in May 2013. The inquiry, chaired by fellow Superior Court Justice France Charbonneau, has been probing allegations of corruption and collusion in the awarding of government construction contracts, including any links to the financing of political parties, since 2011. — Glenn Kauth glenn.kauth@thomsonreuters.com Fewer, but bigger, legal clinics under new deal T here will be fewer, but larger, legal clinics in the Greater Toronto Area as a result of a deal announced by Legal Aid Ontario in December. Jack De Klerk, director of legal services at Neighbourhood Legal Services in Toronto, says the deal was a compromise reached between 16 clinics and LAO after it threatened to cut their funding last summer. Under the agreement, funding will remain unchanged over the next two years while the clinics pursue increased efficiencies through mergers. The agreement, part of LAO's clinic transformation project, will revolutionize a service delivery system that has remained unchanged for decades, according to Vicki Moretti, LAO vice president for the Lenny Abramowicz Greater Toronto Area region. would like to see While consultations are underway on the transformation efforts in details of the transformation, Moretti says there's other parts of Ontario. a general understanding that one of the changes will be clinic mergers. "We're looking at replacing the existing clinics with a smaller number of larger clinics, clinics that are more flexible, clinics that have a broader range of services." The deal, she adds, is "a pretty big deal inasmuch as we've got these 16 independent entities that are governed by their own community board of directors and really what they're saying is: 'In the L a w ye r m a g . c o m Robin Kuniski I n late November, a Federal Court judge recommended a further review of the conduct of a Quebec Superior Court judge mentioned at the Quebec corruption inquiry. According to the Canadian Judicial Council, a panel of three judges will investigate the conduct of Superior Court Justice Michel Déziel after allegations against him surfaced at the inquiry last spring. Since then, Federal Court Justice and Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada Chief Justice Edmond Blanchard, vice chairman of the judicial conduct committee, reviewed the allegations and "has decided that this matter would benefit from further consideration by a panel of three judges," said the Canadian Judicial Council. The panel will include three judges, two of whom are members of the Canadian Judicial Council, who will look into the case and decide whether the federal body should close the file or take other measures. The allegations date back to the 1997 municipal election campaign in Blainville, Que., when Déziel was a lawyer and organizer for the sitting mayor. Corruption inquiry witness Gilles Cloutier has alleged Déziel gave him $30,000 with instructions to find people to pose as donors to the campaign. Déziel joined the Superior Court bench in November 2003. The allegations against him first arose at the

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