Much Ado About Claptrap

"The use by an official of your office, of the Law Society of Upper Canada complaint process, in order to try to silence a critic for his opinion was rightly rejected by the Law Society.  However, if you believe that our statement violates the Law Society of Upper Canada rules, please feel free to report us..."

"We find the attempt by you and your officials to muzzle freedom of expression to be reprehensible.  We will not succumb."  80 Ontario lawyers, headed by Lorne Waldman, Toronto immigration lawyer

If this "nyah, nyah, come and get us!", juvenile letter of contemptible taunting under the guise of courage against adversity doesn't display very poor judgement from a large group of law professionals, it's equally difficult to characterize it as a sober display of legal intelligence seeking truth and justice.  Which is what the authors and signers-on purportedly meant it to demonstrate.

They're offended by the fact that a lawyer, Guidy Mamann, had publicly made the unsubstantiated charge that Immigration Minister Jason Kenney used his political influence to ensure that Conrad Black's application for temporary residency in Canada would be approved after he served his sentence in an American prison for fraud and obstruction of justice.

This allegation was one that was flung into the public sphere despite evidence to the contrary.  An internal government email supported Mr. Kenney's claim that he had nothing to do with the issuance of the temporary residency permit on behalf of Lord Black.  The minister's office was informed of Lord Black's application as an update courtesy by the department.

And the response the civil servants got was clear enough "I know this has been conveyed before but the minister has reiterated that all decision-making should be handled by the Dept."  And the next alert received by the minister's office was the same day the public learned through the media that Lord Black had been granted his sought-after permit.  This did represent, after all, a high-profile individual whose fortunes have been closely followed in the news media.

Speculation about the minister's hand in this granting of the permit was immediate and rife.  The minister responded forthrightly that this was an issue that had nothing to do with him, one that was handled by his department officials in a manner that was impartial and responsive to the situation.  Which obviously didn't stop the rumour mill.  Nor lawyer Guidy Mamann from his insistence that Mr. Kenney manipulated the situation.

Irked by the situation, Minister Kenney lodged an official complaint about Mr. Mamann's conduct to the Law Society of Upper Canada.  And the regulatory body responded by supporting Mr. Mamann's right to declare as he saw fit.  The letter by the other lawyers was in response to this incident; they feeling that the matter wouldn't be adequately concluded without their stated support of their colleague and denunciation of the minister.

"If the lawyers who signed this letter think it is acceptable for a lawyer to accuse a public office holder of interference without a shred of evidence, and with all evidence to the contrary, then, with due respect, they have a warped sense of professionalism and legal ethics.  Instead of engaging in knee jerk outbursts of blind solidarity these lawyers might consider the long-term damage to their profession of elevating activism above professionalism," responded Ana Curic, spokeswoman for Mr. Kenney's office. 

Hear, Hear!

Lorne Waldman, the lawyer behind the stunt, feels justified nonetheless in having initiated that childish letter in support of his colleague's unwarranted charges.  Because he finds it difficult to believe that this government whose 'agenda' is obviously ideologically opposed to his own, did not have an ulterior motive to involve itself in the granting of the application for Lord Black.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper took the time to attempt to interject some common sense into the issue: "Minister Kenney took every step to ensure that this matter was handled independently by public servants.  It's not in the government's interest to intervene in this matter in any way, shape or form."

And, the simple fact of the matter is, had the government intervened in this matter it would not have been setting a precedent.  Ministers across the political spectrum do, quite often, become involved in such matters, being asked to by constituents on occasion, and providing assistance where they may, in acknowledging their responsibilities to those who elected them.

For that matter, what the fuss is all about is beyond belief.  Conrad Black has been a credit to this country.  There are those who despise him and those who admire him.  There's a little bit of bad and good in everyone, and if this man's character and deeds were to be weighed, the result would come down fairly heavily on the balance of good, very good indeed.