The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50823
regional wrap-up McAdam disagreed. Th ree grounds were identifi ed in her appeal. First, that the complaints authorization committee failed to consider all of her allegations. Second, that she was denied the right to be heard or represented before the committee. Finally, that a member of the committee was in a confl ict of interest. Th e court dismissed the fi rst two grounds but not the third. "I acknowledge that the requirements of procedural fairness — which include requirements CENTRAL City worker stalks youth court lawyer Y outh court lawyer Myriam De Blois panics each time she sees a red City of Montreal pickup truck with the giant flashing yellow arrows on the back. The 40-year-old legal counsel for Batshaw Youth and Family Centres dis- covered last October that a man she noticed had been following her since late June is a municipal blue-collar worker who was using a city vehicle to tail her while he was supposed to be working. Leaving a downtown café last fall, she recognized the man behind the wheel of a city truck as the one who had been shadowing her and once even brushed up against her on a sidewalk then asked her out for a drink. De Blois continued to see him every- where in the same truck and then in mid- November he entered a coffee shop she was in and simply stared at her. She ran out to get the licence plate — FEC 5859, a number she'll never forget — and report- ed it to police a couple of days later. They arrested André Martel and he was ordered to stay away from De Blois. After breaking those conditions several times, including another face-to-face confrontation shortly after Christmas, he was arrested again. Much to her horror, she learned from police that Martel admitted to them that he had actually been stalking her since July 2008. That information came out Jan. 28, the day he pleaded guilty to two charges of criminal harassment. While awaiting sentencing, the 50-year-old is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation at a treatment centre outside of Montreal and he isn't even allowed on the island until Aug. 1. "I'm OK now, but when I know he's out, I'm sure to start worrying again," the single De Blois tells Canadian Lawyer. "What kind of state will he be in when he gets out? Will he wait for me on a street corner one day and shoot me?" De Blois wonders. "I'm not scared by nature or easily intimidated," says the well-travelled lawyer who worked in the Israeli-occupied territories, the former Yugoslavia, and Mali before joining the Quebec youth court a decade ago. But she admits she's rattled by the "very ordinary- looking" Martel, who made her feel like a prisoner. "I couldn't hide anymore. "I never missed work because of it, but there are other effects," she says pointing to insomnia, the loss of 25 pounds, flare-ups of her asthma, and a lost sense of freedom. De Blois, who admits to dressing provocatively and has long platinum blond hair, stresses "my look isn't an excuse" to be stalked and harassed. Martel is scheduled to be back in court in October, for pre-sentencing. The Crown has already recommended a 10-month jail term. "I don't think it's over and I want to know how dangerous he is, I want him in prison," says De Blois, who is consid- ering launching civil suits against both Martel and the city for failing to protect her from him. — MIKE KING mking@videotron.ca Atlantic Legal Telephone Directory 2010–2011 INCLUDES E-MAIL ADDRESSES Connect to the east coast legal network Order your copy today at www.canadalawbook.ca • 1-800-565-6967 8 JUNE 2010 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com 7" x 1" Cdn. Lawyer banner.indd 1 4/27/10 10:57:03 AM of independence and impartiality — vary for diff erent tribunals. However, on these facts I conclude that there was a breach of procedural fairness because of the composition of the complaints authorization committee," Goodridge stated. Specifi cally, the chairperson of the committee was a partner of the lawyer McAdam had retained and with whom she shared confi dential information directly related to the matters before the committee. "Ms. McAdam is entitled to an assurance that any of the confi dential information that she shared with [her lawyer] was not divulged to [his partner]," noted Goodridge. "Her worry is that [the partner] was infl uenced, albeit unintentionally, by this confi dential information. She does not have that assurance that the information was not shared, and under the circumstances, the committee was not an impartial tribunal." Perception is reality. — DM