Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m M A Y 2 0 1 5 9 unshowy attitude in front of the cam- era certainly reinforced her credibility. When Bill 12 was introduced in 2013, the province's Ombudsman Ray- monde Saint-Germain endorsed the new bureau, saying it "strikes a balance between the public interest and respect of the rights of all involved." According to the ombudsman, Bill 12 respected all the following essential conditions: independence, impartiality, consistent application of formal rules, transpar- ency, and oversight and accountability in the investigative process. She made several recommendations, including that the notion of "serious injury" should be defined in the Police Act as "any injury likely to have sig- nificant repercussions, including those sustained as a result of sexual assault." Article 289.1 of the Police Act, not yet in force as of March 1, states that a government regulation shall determine what constitutes a serious injury. — PASCAL ELIE pascalelie636@gmail.com \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ P R A I R I E S \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP T he popular legal education web site Éducaloi is celebrat- ing its 15th anniversary this year. Nathalie Roy, its exec- utive director, participated in its foundation in 2000. At the time, the Barreau du Québec was ponder- ing what sort of approach it should take regarding the fast- developing Internet. In those days, the popularity of the web was still being questioned by some who worried about pouring money into a web site that few, they thought, would access. Roy, at the time assistant to the office of the bâtonnier du Quebec, pushed to create the service. It now boasts 2.9 million users and 7.3 million pages viewed between April 2014 and March 2015. On a monthly basis, it counted 307,000 users in February 2015, a 34.6-per-cent increase from a year before. The site's maxim is: "Your starting point for legal informa- tion" and defines its mission as "helping citizens understand their rights and responsibilities." Its educational projects include teaching the basics of law to the young. About 15,000 students have received training from Éducaloi since 2000, says Roy. From the beginning of her career, Roy was involved with community organizations. She went on to become a freelance writer for law journals and law firms, sometimes writing briefs for appeal court cases. Prior to the creation of Éducaloi, a two-week visit in Sas- katoon, where she discovered and became familiar with the Public Legal Education and information network made her realize how advanced the rest of Canada was in the field. She has since vowed to catch up. In 2009, former Court of Appeal chief justice Pierre Michaud, freshly retired from the bench, had joined Norton Rose. Roy persuaded him to negotiate, for Éducaloi, with the Barreau, the Chambre des notaires, and the SOQUIJ (a gov- ernment corporation that deals mostly in legal information destined to lawyers and judges) to have them, as institutional members, joining in a restructured Éducaloi. She got, since, Norton Rose to help out, pro bono, for Édu- caloi's legal affairs (contracts, IP, labour relations, etc.). Roy received the Barreau du Québec Award of Merit in 2014 for her outstanding professional accomplishments. — PE ÉDUCALOI CELEBRATES 15 YEARS DELIVERING LEGAL INFO A n Ottawa federal prosecutor is seeking judicial review of a Public Service Commission decision that bars her from running for political office. Emilie Taman now has the support of the Association of Justice Counsel in her chal- lenge of the decision. It cited the need for impartiality in preclud- ing her from running in the upcoming federal election. Sources say Taman is seeking the NDP nomination in Ottawa-Vanier. AJC president Len MacKay says the union's concern is the commission's decision could set a precedent for a blanket ban on prosecutors who want to seek leaves of absence to pursue politics. "We have taken up this application on her behalf to help protect her individual rights and freedoms, but of great concern to us as well is what precedent might be set by the process that was followed in Ms. Taman's case," says MacKay. "In particular, it would appear that senior management strong- ly recommended that the prosecutor not be granted leave to run for office because of the impact on her impartiality." MacKay says Taman's managers argued there was no way to protect the perception of Taman's impartiality given her position and job description. The AJC argues, the government could use the same reasons to deny any federal prosecutor the ability to run for office. The perception of impartiality is "a perfectly valid con- cept," says MacKay. "The problem we have, though, is if you look at the [commission's] decision and the way they described the applicant's duties, that description applies to virtually every pros- ecutor in the county, both provincial and federal," he says. "Our concern is that this would amount to a blanket prohibition on at least federal prosecutors. We see it as a bigger battle as well." In her application for judicial review, Taman, a daughter of former Supreme Court of Canada justice Louise Arbour, is seek- ing to set aside the commission's decision and a declaration it violates the Constitution. The commission "based its decision without regard for the material before it, by rendering a decision without regard to the specific duties performed by the applicant; instead, the [commission] based its decision on broad principles of prosecutorial discretion and the mandate of the entire office of the director of public prosecutions," says the application. When Federal Crown fi ghts for right to run for offi ce Continued on page 10

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