Canadian Lawyer

10 J U N E 2 0 1 6 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m Mérite québécois de la sécurité civile et incendie. In it he reveals a few details of his life. He qualified as a notary in 1958, and according to the 2014 article, practised all along, his firm reportedly signing 32,000 contracts. He became fire investigation commis- sioner in 1967, for a salary of $4,000 a year. He was born in Quebec City, in the mostly anglophone "Little Brooklyn" neighbourhood. When he was seven, he hung around the fire station, helping firefighters clean up on Saturdays. He learned English caddying at the Île-d'Orléans golf club, where half the families were English-speaking. When he was 17, he saw his boarding school, Collège Saint-Alexandre in Gatineau, burn down. "Nobody died but I lost everything, really everything, my clothes, my watch, a beautiful tennis racquet that a pro had given me. I saw it burn on the wall. I lost seven dollars that I had left in a drawer. Do you know what seven dollars represented for a boarding schoolboy in 1954?" he asks the reporter. About the award he received in honour of his out- standing career, he told Le Soleil, jokingly: "Usually, when you receive this kind of praise, it's because they're ready to bury you." — 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 RELIGIOUS ANSWERS R emember the Pastafarians (see Regional Wrap-Up, Canadian Lawyer January 2016)? They are the people who belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a parody movement that mocks religious fundamentalism. They worship a giant spaghetti monster that cre- ated the universe 4,000 years ago while drunk. They were back in the news in the spring, when Coalition avenir Québec oppo- sition MNA Nathalie Roy asked the Liberal Deputy Minister of Transports André Meloche, during a budgetary parliamentary commission hearing at the National Assembly, why the ministry had spent $16,140 on a Université du Québec Religions Studies program. The research mandate was to produce "a written expertise on the religious aspect of a belief, and more particularly to determine if this belief qualifies as a religion allowing the same reasonable accommodations given to followers of other faiths." The study was conducted in the context of a citizen's court application to be allowed to wear a pirate hat (she had tried a colander first) on her driver's licence photo, said the deputy minister. "She lost her case," he said. But Roy asked how the study could have been useful since it was ordered after the court rendered its decision. All the government employees present were at a loss to answer. But Jacques Daoust, the minister of Transports, Sustainable Mobility and Elec- trification of Transports, concluded that with the study in hand, the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec was well equipped to face similar court challenges in the future. "Pastafarians had better watch out," he said. - PE A fi ery life Continued from page 9 Let the experts help you to narrow your search and save you research time. Canadian Patent Reporter has been Canada's leading intellectual property law report since 1942. This renowned resource, available online and in print, includes precedent-setting intellectual property law judicial and board decisions from across Canada. This publication provides practitioners with the leading decisions on patent, industrial design, copyright and trade-mark law. Topical catchlines in bold print show the key issues involved in each decision. Expert case selection, editing and headnoting are a tradition with Canadian Patent Reporter. Weekly updates via email and in print, plus an annual cumulative index volume, ensure that this publication continues to be the prime reference source for intellectual property case law. Includes eReports (weekly electronic pdf version) Stay current as cases are issued with eReports emailed weekly to your desktop, with topically indexed case summaries linked to the full text judgments. Edited by Marcus Gallie, Ridout & Maybee LLP Fourth Series (Volumes 1 to 65): Edited by Glen Bloom, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP First, Second and Third Series: Edited by Gowling, Strathy & Henderson Founding Editor: Gordon F. Henderson, C.C., Q.C., LL.D. Canadian Patent Reporter Available risk-free for 30 days Order online: www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Order # A26520-65203 $565 Subscription price includes parts, bound volume and eReports Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 00235RA-A54700

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