The Province of Upper Canada was created by the United Kingdom to govern the central third of British North America (as it was then called) and to house Loyalist refugees from the United States after the American Revolution. It included all of present-day southern Ontario and all areas of northern Ontario that were part of New France, primarily the Ottawa River and Lake Huron-Superior watersheds. The prefix “upper” in Upper Canada reflected the geographic location of the territory, which was closer to the upper St. Lawrence River than Lower Canada (or present-day Quebec) to the northeast, but Upper Canada excluded all areas of the Hudson Bay watershed. The bar moved first to the Wilson Hotel, then from 1799 to 1832 at various temporary locations in York, Toronto, until the construction of Osgoode Hall in 1832. [10] The Law Society retained its original name, although Upper Canada ceased to exist as a political entity in 1841. In the early 1800s, the Law Society imposed increasingly onerous requirements on prospective lawyers in Upper Canada and required law students to live at Osgoode Hall while they were studying law. [11] Historian Paul Romney argues that such licensing requirements increased the “prestige” of the legal profession in the young colony relative to its position in other North American colonies or the United States. [11] The governing body of the Law Society of Upper Canada (Convocation) voted to change the name of the Law Society of Upper Canada`s regulatory body to the Law Society of Ontario, although it is popular with practitioners, according to a statement from the Law Society. “The debate took place in a way that made it clear that most people recognize that the term `Upper Canada` should disappear, and yet there is also discomfort with the word `society` because there is an element of elitism and exclusivity in the term.” It was the third time in 24 years that the company — the only statutory regulator in Canada that did not include the province or territory in its title — had applied for a name change.
The Law Society of Upper Canada was founded in 1797, but the British colony from which it takes its name – which included parts of present-day Ontario – ceased to exist in 1841. But instead of immediately moving to the Ontario Bar, which the report recommended, the council will meet in November to consider the new name to choose. All indications are that the Law Society of Ontario is at the top of the list, but there have been previous efforts to call it the Law Society of Ontario. Rocco Galati, a Toronto lawyer, strongly opposed the change, calling it a “BS façade” as implying that the bar association has no contact with the public. “Our role at the Law Society is to act in the public interest and serve the public, which means we need to be more visible and establish ourselves as the place to turn for legal help and information,” said Paul Schabas, who holds the Law Society`s highest elected position as Treasurer. “It had become clear that the `Upper Canada` part of our name, while appreciated by many in the industry, was not only confusing for the public, but was actually a barrier for people who contacted us or knew who we are and what we do.” Upper Canada was the name of what is roughly Ontario when the Law Society was founded; Quebec was called Lower Canada. Over the years, there has been talk of changing the name of the Law Society several times. The Law Society was approved by the Law Society for Better Regulation of the Practice of Law, a law of 1797, although it was not created. [5] Section 1 of the Act only authorized persons “legally authorized and practising as lawyers” in the province at the time to form a “partnership”. [6] [7] The 1797 Act allowed the Law Society to impose conditions of admission to the Law Society of Upper Canada and to test candidates against these standards.
[8] Although the Law Society of Upper Canada lobbied to change its name, some lawyers say they felt excluded from the trial. Four names were proposed and tested by the Law Society`s Strategic Communications Steering Group: Law Society of Ontario, Law Society of Ontario, Legal Regulatory Body of Ontario and Legal Professionals of Ontario. More than 17,000 licensees responded, 83 per cent of whom supported the Law Society of Ontario. Of the approximately 1,000 members of the public who gave their preference, more members of the public (41 per cent) preferred the Law Society of Ontario over other options. Following allegations by some councillors that there had not been enough – or no – consultation among the thousands of member lawyers and paralegals, lawyer William McDowell suggested amending the application so that “Upper Canada” could be dropped and a new name created at the November session. Marshall says she thinks there should have been a writing option for the survey. She adds that she was surprised by the debate over the name change and that there were other things she thought the legal society should focus on if it wanted to encourage public engagement. The Act did not explicitly provide for other persons to become members of the Bar, but the power to admit practitioners other than existing practitioners was considered implicit in section 5. Article 5 stated that “no one other than current practitioners. is authorized to practise in the bar association of one of Her Majesty`s courts in that province, unless that person has already been registered and admitted as a law student in that partnership. and have been duly appointed and admitted as barrister of the AW in accordance with the statutes and their establishment”. [6] “The biggest challenge was identifying all the Law Society documents that needed to be changed to reflect the new name,” Tonkin said.
“. During this transitional period (12 months), both names will continue to be used. Given the TRC`s dozens of recommendations, it seems strange that the Law Society of Upper Canada continues to stick to its traditional name. She says that the Law Society Act will eventually be amended and that the name will be in good faith. In the meantime, lawyers are not expected to change their stationery or refer to the Law Society of Upper Canada in their documents. In 2012, the main argument of the bankers of the Law Society of Upper Canada in favour of the current name was that the Law Society of Upper Canada is the oldest association of the Commonwealth Law Society and that the name is a tradition. One oft-cited argument was that in May 2012, the province`s Jesuits, an elite group of Catholic priests, still had “Upper Canada” in their name. However, less than two years after the Law Society of Upper Canada debate, the Jesuits had changed their name to “Canadian Jesuits,” and references to Upper Canada are fairly removed from their website and social media. [iii] “I am very pleased that councillors voted overwhelmingly to eliminate the anachronistic term `Upper Canada` and that there seems to be overwhelming recognition that we need to change and have a modern name that is relevant and understandable to Ontarians in the 21st century,” treasurer Paul Schabas, the society`s elected leader. The star said.
Ian Holloway, dean of the University of Calgary`s Faculty of Law, wrote in Canadian Lawyer magazine that the name change is “nothing more than a superficial façade that won`t change what the public thinks of us. But what it will do is that we will lose some of our sense of professional identity. Because in a precedent-based system like the common law, it is conceptually impossible to understand the present without having a sense of the past. “Our name would be a barrier to effective communication,” he said.
