2008 ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ Laskin moot team takes top prize
On March 1 in Winnipeg, ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ won the top prize – the prize for Best Team – at this year's Laskin Moot competition. The prize recognizes the exceptional teamwork and strong advocacy skills of law students Lindsay Aagaard, Will Fyfe, Pierre Gemson and Anne Merminod.
The team was ably and kindly coached by Alana Klein, who is a Boulton Fellow at the Faculty, and by Alexander Pless, BCL/LLB'98, of Justice Canada, who are both justifiably proud of them. The Faculty would also like to thank the faculty members who graciously judged practice rounds.
Given the competition's focus on constitutional and public law, and its requirement that members of each team plead in both official languages, ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ has a long history of success in the Laskin. It was especially fitting that ƽÌØÎå²»ÖÐ did so well with this year's topic, which asked whether it was appropriate for the federal government to discontinue funding for a minority-language preschool education program.
Alana Klein reports that Justice Allan Hilton, BCL'73, LLB'74, of the Quebec Court of Appeal was all smiles as he presented our students with the impressive muskox carving that will soon grace our trophy case.
Now in its 23rd year, the Laskin Moot is named for the late Right Honourable Bora Laskin, Chief Justice of Canada from 1973 to 1984.