• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

THE CANADIAN BAR ASSOCIATION B. H. COLEMAN Ottawa This sketch does notpretend to be a history of The Canadian Bar Association. Still less is it an attempt to discuss the increas- ing influence of the Association as a force in our national life or an endeavour to assess the part played in that development by some of the great Canadians who, during the thirty years, have given inspiration and leadership. I am confining this record to facts relating to the formation of the Association and its advance- ment. I realize that it is now difficult to obtain a complete set of our Year Books, which give detailed reports of the Annual Meetings and, the work of the committees and affiliated bodies. These Year Books contain a wealth of material which must be of interest to every Canadian lawyer. Necessarily, this brief sketch must therefore be a series of notes concerning the various Annual Meetings, rather than a comprehensive and detailed study of the work of the Association in advancing its high purposes and in establishing its position in Canadian life. In the autumn of 1913 the American Bar Association held its Annual Meeting in Montreal, under the presidency of Mr. F: B. Kellogg. It was at this meeting that Viscount Haldane, the first Lord Chancellor of Great Britain to visit North America while in office, delivered a memorable address, to which he gave the title "The Higher Nationality". The vision of . a national association of lawyers caught the imagination of a number of prominent Canadians who were in attendance. Later in the year, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Doherty, visited Winnipeg and at a dinner. tendered him by the Manitoba Bar Association suggested that steps should be taken to organize in Canada an association similar to the American Bar- Association. It is interesting to note that Mr. Doherty was accompanied on this visit by his private secretary,, Mr. John T. Hackett, now President of The Canadian Bar Association.', ' Mr. Doherty's suggestion made a strong appeal to the late Sir James Aikins, then President of the Manitoba Bar Association, and he at once communicated with prominent members of the Bar in the different Provinces. In February 1914 a preliminary meeting was held at Ottawa to discuss the possibility of establish- ing a national voluntary association of lawyers. At this meeting it was decided to proceed with the organization of such an associa- tion. A provisional committee consisting of Mr. Aikins (as he 4 The Canadian Bar Review [Vol. XXVI then was), Chairman, Mr. E. Fabre Surveyer, of Montreal, Secretary, and Mr. John F. Orde, of Ottawa, Treasurer, was set up. Letters signed by them were sent to the officers of the governing bodies of the legal profession in the Provinces and to the officers of the voluntary local bar associations, inviting them to attend or be represented at an organization meeting at Ottawa on March 31st, 1914. At this meeting representatives of the Bar from all the Provinces of Canada were present and The Canadian Bar Association was established, with Mr. Aikins as President. The declared objects of the Association were to advance the science of jurisprudence; promote the administration of justice and uniformity of legislation throughout Canada so far as is consistent with the preservation of the basic systems of law in the respective provinces ; uphold the honour of the profession of the law, and foster harmonious relations and co-operation among the incorporated law societies, barristers' societies and general corporations of the Bars of the several provinces and cordial intercourse among the members of the Canadian Bar; and to encourage a high standard of legal education, training and ethics. These purposes are very similar to the purposes of the American Bar Association, but there is one fundamental distinction which must be kept in mind. In each of the Provinces of Canada are bodies incorporated by the Provincial Legislatures, charged with important responsibilities in relation to admission, education, training and discipline. Necessarily, therefore, the work of The Canadian Bar Association in this field has to be co-ordinated with the work of these provincial bodies. There has never been a comparable situation throughout the forty-eight States of the United States. The American Bar Association, therefore, in its long history has takers action in specific matters which, under the Canadian system, have been dealt with by the incorporated provincial societies. On the other hand, the fact that we have in Canada two great systems of law has given us the advantage of comparing the operations of the two systems and of realizing the great contribution which each makes to the science of jurisprudence. In August of 1914 the first Great War broke out and it was questionable whether the newly organized association would be able to survive. Sir James Aikins and others associated with him were unremitting in their efforts, visiting the members of the 1948] The Canadian Bar Association Bar in different parts of the country and stimulating interest in the movement. The first Annual Meeting was held in Montreal in March, 1915, and the, second at Toronto in June 1916. It had been decided that the third Annual Meeting would be held in Winnipeg in 1917, but before the appointed time arrived it -was realized that because of war conditions ,it would not be practicable to hold the meeting. This was one of the most critical periods in the early history of the Association and I have often heard Sir James Aikins say that it was due to the encouragement he received from the Bar of Montreal that he ventured to issue the call for the third meeting, which was held in Montreal early in September 1918. After the Armistice of November 11th, 1918, and the return to Canada of many of the younger members of the Bar who had been serving in the Canadian forces overseas, .the Association took a new lease of life. The fourth Annual Meeting was held in Winnipeg in 1919. This was, the first occasion when we had the pleasure of welcoming .a _representative from the United Kingdom, in the person of the venerable and distinguished Viscount Finlay, who had only recently relinquished office as Lord Chancellor. It is interesting to recall that Lord Finlay was accompanied by the present Lord Oaksey (then Mr. Geoffrey Lawrence) whose later career as a Judge of the High Court, as the United Kingdom Presiding Judge at the Nuremberg trials and presently as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is familiar to all Canadian lawyers. The Annual Meetings both in 1920 and in 1921 were held at Ottawa and were very largely attended. In 1922, for the first time, it was decided to take the risk of holding a meeting on the Pacific Coast. The officers of the Association were both surprised and gratified at the large number of lawyers from other Provinces who made the long journey to Vancouver and Victoria, for the attendance was an assurance that the Association had finally reached a stage when there could be little misgiving over its appeal to the members of the Bar in all the Provinces. It may be interesting to recall that the distinguished guests from the United Kingdom at these early meetings were : in .1920, Lord Cave, later Earl Cave, Lord Chancellor; in 1921, Sir John Simon, later Viscount Simon, Lord Chancellor; and in 1922, Lord Shaw of Dunfermline, who later became the first Lord Craigmyle. 6 The Canadian Bar Review [Vol. XXVI The American Bar Association was represented at these earlier meetings by such distinguished men as Charles Thaddeus Terry, Walter George Smith, James M. Beck, William Howard Taft, Alton B. Parker and John W. Davis. Although to keep this sketch within reasonable limits I must refer especially to the Annual Meetings, it is not to be assumed that, throughout each year, a great amount of valuable and constructive work was not done. Naturally, since there had not been any serious effort previously to bring together the lawyers of the different Provinces, it took some years to establish relation- ships and mutual confidence between men who, for the first time, were engaged in a common effort. Nevertheless, as will be apparent to anyone who looks through the earlier Year Books, a great deal of useful work was accomplished by committees and by individual members. Committees charged with the study of particular problems found it difficult to arrange meetings with representative members from all the Provinces and, as will be seen, it was found expedient later on to make other arrangements for carrying on some of the work. In some instances, in the early days, tasks were attempted which were perhaps beyond the strength of the young Association, but in a great many cases information was gathered and friendly relations were established which have been of incalculable benefit to the Association in later years. It was a realization of the difficulty of ensuring continuity in committee work that led Sir James Aikins to suggest to the Provincial Governments in 1918 that there should be established the body, closely identified with the Association, which is now known as the Conference of Commissioners on Uniformity of Legislation. The Conference, which now comprises representa- tives of the Governments of the nine Provinces and of the Federal Government, has made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of uniformity of legislation throughout Canada, consistent always with the preservation of the basic systems of law in the various provinces. It is interesting that, within the last four years, a special branch of the Conference has devoted itself to the study of Criminal Law and the Administration of Criminal Justice.

Load more

  18

Copy Link