It’s a sad day when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada comes off sounding like Nancy Grace. But the bleating of Madame Justice Beverly McLachlin. (inset upper) about access to justice does not become her.  “People just swallow their pain and their loss and live with it, I guess, in some unsatisfactory way feeling they can’t get justice,” she has been complaining. Her remarks come in the context of a report from the Canadian Bar Association about the seriousness of the same problem. All well and good if like the lawyers who authored this report you think that “justice” is like medical care. If our learned friends don’t understand that justice is almost entirely in the eye of the beholder, those seeking it may wish to look for help in the want ads. Which is not to say that people don’t face stress and disappointment because of delays in the court system. To deal with this however it would be well to appreciate how the rising expectations of society have led to an enormous bureaucracy that, in the end, will never grow large enough to meet our expectations. It may be sad. It may be painful. And it’s like looking for love in all the wrong places. The justice system was not created to soothe away sadness and pain. In court there’s almost always a winner and a loser. Much is made of the stress and pain people feel when families break down and they seek redress in the law. Stress and pain begins when fractious humans cannot resolve differences on their own. The author of the report is  Melina Buckley. She says one of biggest concerns is the growing number of people who represent themselves in civil cases. She says this happens because they earn  just enough money so they don’t qualify for legal aid, but they also don’t make enough to pay for a lawyer.   May we say Ms Buckley that increasing the amount of money paid to legal aid lawyers (and they may deserve a raise) is not going to eliminate a class of people who fall between the stools, so to speak. An increase will pay the lawyers better but it won’t help those who are still making just the wrong amount of money to qualify for one. 

Here are three captures from the Canadian Sportfishing video of Hazel McCallion working to land a 17-pound salmon during the Great Ontario Salmon Derby on Lake Ontario near the Credit River a few days ago. The story is told by all  that  Mayor Ford saved the 92-year-old Mrs McCallion from being thrown into the lake as the salmon struggled to escape. On the video, which may be seen in the column at the left or on YouTube, the Mississauga mayor is buffeted about as Mr. Ford grips her in a bear hug and anchors the fish landing with his weight. At the  left, a look of fierce determination burns in the face of  Mrs. McCallion  (this is not unknown). Centre, she gets a peek at her pending catch in the water and then begins to reel it in furiously. Right, having offered Mr. Ford a loud “Thank you Rob”  she receives a peck on the cheek from the Toronto chief magistrate. They say the Chinook was very tasty.