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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 6 17 prime minister's legacy while he fumes impotently in his Calgary basement? No. The judges didn't follow prompts while Harper was in office. Why would they do it now that he's gone? Even Brown might surprise us. By the way, Prime Minister Trudeau will have little opportunity to appoint Supreme Court judges unless he is re- elected once or twice. Only one judge — McLachlin — will reach the manda- tory retirement age of 75 before the next federal election. It's going to be quite a while, if ever, before a Trudeau court replaces the Harper court. Goodbye to The Marshall A tip of the hat to Marshall Rothstein. He retired on Aug. 30 after almost 10 years at the Supreme Court. Rothstein's judi- cial career was marked by competence, common sense, hard work, modesty, and a sense of humour. He went to the Supreme Court from the Federal Court of Appeal, and later said although his income went up with the promotion, his hourly rate went down. Rothstein did a lot of the unglamorous heavy lift- ing, working on complex administrative, commercial, and tax cases that don't make much of a splash in the newspa- pers and give you a headache. We owe him. He and I were acquaintances at the University of Manitoba way back when. He was known on campus as "The Mar- shall." We all knew he was going to do well. He's now landed at Hunter Litiga- tion Chambers in Vancouver. Case of the year The case of the year was Carter v. Can- ada. A full court unanimously held that Criminal Code provisions prohibiting physician-assisted death for a compe- tent adult who consents to the termi- nation of life, and has a grievous and irremediable medical condition caus- ing enduring and intolerable suffering, were contrary to s. 7 of the Charter of Rights ("Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person. . ."). Carter, which overturned the 1993 case of Rodriguez v. British Columbia, further stamps Canada as a caring and progres- sive country. It demonstrates the willingness and ability of Supreme Court judges to reflect changing social opinion rather than an ideology, be it their own or that of the prime minister who appointed them. Carter must have been particu- larly satisfying for the chief justice, who was in the Rodriguez minority, the only judge to sit on both cases. Full marks. Sunny ways, my friends, sunny ways The Supreme Court, although it will always be important, may now become less interesting. The great days of put- ting flesh on the Charter's bones in blockbuster cases are largely over. That work has been done over three decades. Fisticuffs between the judicial and executive branches are finished as well. No more absurd public contretemps between the chief justice and the prime minister. Sunny ways. What a relief ! Philip Slayton is a best-selling author and former Bay Street lawyer. OSGOODE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION Learn More: www.osgoodepd.ca/newyeargoals A WORLD LEADER IN LAW SCHOOL LIFELONG LEARNING CLE Programs: Learn from leading minds We all have new year resolutions... Get started on yours. Consider your learning goals, time and budget and we're sure to have a program to suit your needs. From one-day courses, certificates and online programs, we have what you need to further your professional development goals. Join our intellectual community and take your legal knowledge and skills to the next level by pursuing the executive-style Professional LLM and specialize in one of 15 legal areas. Now is your time. Master of Laws (LLM): Bridging theory and practice Untitled-2 1 2015-12-14 9:47 AM

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