Editor’s Note: Intra Vires, an old Ultra Vires feature with a Latin title that translates to “dumb self-mocking jokes,” now returns following a brief hiatus. Intra Vires is supported by way of Christie’s Auction House, thanks to the sale of an art piece that was, until recently, on display at a law school.
Beverley McLachlin Takes Up Residence at Trinity College, Starts Law School
“If I were to open a law school in my basement,” an idea posited by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin during oral submissions in TWU v. LSUC late last year, seems to have been taken seriously by Trinity College at the University of Toronto.Chancellor William Graham, a former professor at the Faculty of Law, released a statement:
We are very fortunate to have Chief Justice McLachlin take up residence here at Trinity College. We are happy to help her realize her dream of opening a law school in her—in our—basement. Of course, we will have to relocate the Episkopon…
Professor Mayo Moran, the former Dean of the Faculty of Law and the current Provost and Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College, further commented:
For many years, we have been quietly trying to accredit our unofficial “pre-law” program here at Trinity College. Labelling the program “Munk One” was a step in the right direction. Now we finally have a law school of our own at Trinity. Our undergraduate students already hail from elite institutions such as Branksome Hall and Upper Canada College—they will naturally be a fit at our new law school.
A current Trinity College student, who declined to be named, commented, “It’ll be nice to have more distinguished legal scholars and judges around the quad. I mean, we only have Professors Graham, Moran, and Waddams–certainly not names to drop on my Yale Law School application.” Professor Waddams is a Fellow at Trinity College.
Chief Justice McLachlin is expected to retire early from her posting as a Visitor at Massey College. Chief Justice Richard Wagner is expected to fill her post. Intra Vires was unable to confirm rumours that Justice Rosalie Abella also submitted an application for the position.
The new law school has yet to be named.
Instigator Behind #gradtripgate Takes Trip to Cuba, Listens to Alanis Morissette’s 1996 Hit Single
Editor’s Note: We have decided to republish an earlier commentary by Aidan Campbell and Amani Rauff (with a few updates we have placed in square brackets).
Surprising no one, this year’s [anti-grad-trip trip] will be at an all-inclusive [Cuban] resort. The annual spectacle of [two] law students, pale from a winter under florescent [sic] lights, sunning their exam-soft bodies on a tropical beach, a drink in one hand and a three-year-old bestseller we’d really been meaning to get to in the other, is a tradition that stretches back at least to the days when Lord Denning set his powdered wig aside to delight in some summertime beach volleyball [though cricket is more likely…].
This year, the [people who brought you #gradtripgate are] headed to [Cuba], a destination that should give us pause…
[Human Rights Watch states:
The Cuban government continues to repress dissent and deter public criticism. It now relies less on long-term prison sentences to punish its critics, but short-term arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders, independent journalists, and others have increased dramatically in recent years. Other repressive tactics employed by the government include public acts of shaming and the arbitrary termination of employment.]
This is not to suggest that the situation in [Cuba] is uniquely horrible… Every vacation destination is also a country with a particular history and social reality. No country exists without some great unresolved crime at its core. However, this campaign of [arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders, independent journalists, and others] is exactly the kind of creeping legalistic horror that we, as soon to be lawyers, have an ethical duty to guard against.
When reached for comment, Alanis Morissette’s 1996 hit single “Ironic” was heard playing in background in the Ultra Vires office. They provided this statement:
Rachel Chan (2L) contributed research and writing to this piece.
In other news
- Chief Returning Officer Aidan Campbell was also indicted in midterm SLS elections probe. Special Counsel Bobby Cruller suspects Osgoode meddling. CRO Campbell declined to comment on whether this had any relation to his upcoming trip to Cuba.
- Separately, instigators behind #snailtripgate were reportedly relieved as #gradtripgate took over law school discussions by storm.
- Law students shocked to learn including “U of T Faculty of Law” in online dating profiles yielded fewer matches than listing nothing at all.
Corrections
An article in the last edition about classing up exam writing misstated the final chapter of Ulysses by referring to Molly Bloom’s soliloquy rather than her eulogy. Thank you to the very smart people who wrote in to point out our philistinism.
