Canadian Lawyer

10 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m affairs reporter Brian Myles in Le Devoir in 2008, will eliminate any doubt! A large man had approached Otis, then a Court of Appeal judge, in a restaurant. As she was wondering what he wanted, he explained that he wished to thank her for saving his life. "I had a loaded gun waiting for me," he told her. She recalled that, as she had done every year, she had taken a mediation case in the week before Christ- mas. The man, a farmer deeply in debt, had stood in the Court of Appeal, deter- mined to shoot himself if no agreement could be reached with his creditors. Otis devised a compromise that both parties accepted. At the time, she had no idea of the impact of that settlement. Otis is an expert mediator in adminis- trative and commercial matters. She is not herself a tax specialist, she told Canadian Lawyer. She agreed to design the pro- gram, which will train tax lawyers and government representatives in mediation, through McGill University, where she is adjunct professor. The idea is to launch an 18- to 24-month pilot project to test the integra- tion of a mediation process that would kick in as soon as a disagreement is identi- fied by the taxpayer or the authorities. Otis has a supervising role, but St-Pierre and her three tax expert colleagues manage the political development as well as the techni- cal tax law content of the project. The initiative is modeled on the crimi- nal judicial mediation program, created in 2004 at Otis' instigation. It had started as a pilot project involving 25 people, including judges, Crowns, and defence lawyers. In 1997, she had instituted a civil and com- mercial law mediation program. Since then, all courts and tribunals in Quebec have set up an integrated mediation pro- cess in their system and the upcoming new Code of Civil Procedure will reserve a cen- tral role for mediation and arbitration. Otis accepted the invitation to lead the association when she heard about the dramatic consequences that gov- ernmental tax claims can have on small businesses and individuals. In addition to tax lawyers' fees, which alone can be an unbearable burden, financial institutions are often unforgiving to the taxpayer in that they will recall loans and credit margins upon learning about a tax claim, which their clients are legally forced to divulge to them, she says. A few days before the YMCA's peace medals were awarded, the Quebec Ombudsman delivered its annual report to the National Assembly, in which it strongly criticized the province's tax authorities for several instances of unfair behaviour toward taxpayers. Quebec's Finance Minister Carlos Leitao reacted promptly, calling the situation unaccept- able. He deplored that fundamental rules of procedures and basic principles of justice had been "applied unequally," and ordered immediate corrective measures. — PASCAL ELIE pascalelie636@gmail.com \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP Peace through tax mediation Continued from page 9 MATTER CREDENTIALS TORONTO I BARRIE I HAMILTON I KITCHENER 1-866-685-3311 www.mcleishorlando.com A Noticeable Difference ™ Choosing a personal injury lawyer is one of the most important decisions an injured person will make. Help your client ask the right questions: Is the lawyer? I Untitled-1 1 2015-05-13 4:13 PM

• Cover