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The Honourable Bora Laskin ’36 (1912-1984)
Bora Laskin was the first academic and the first Jewish man to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada (1970) and to become Chief Justice (1973). Born in 1912 in Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to a Russian immigrant family, Laskin grew up playing baseball and excelling in school. He graduated from Osgoode in 1936 after studying law at the University of Toronto. He went on to complete a Master of Laws degree at Harvard University. Despite his academic credentials, Laskin faced considerable difficulties in finding an articling position, employment or a place in the academy in the anti-Semitic atmosphere of 1930s and 40s Toronto. Laskin persevered and obtained a teaching position at the University of Toronto in 1940. Five years later, he was appointed to Osgoode’s faculty. In 1949, Laskin resigned in order to return to the University of Toronto as a founding member of the new faculty of law. Laskin was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1965 and in 1970, was elevated to the Supreme Court of Canada and became its first Jewish member. He is remembered for the doors he helped open for Jewish Canadians, his love of learning, his compassion and his commitment to reason and integrity.
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1935 - Ignoring the Results?
The Law Society’s Committee on Legal Education recommends that there be no expansion of the academic program and expresses regret that a university degree appears to be of more value than practical experience. Classroom hours are reduced, the second morning lecture is moved to late afternoon to accommodate office schedules and bencher authority over course content and teaching methods in the law school is reaffirmed.
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1933 - Academia vs. Practical Experience
The Law Society of Canada appoints a special committee in June to consider legal education. They commission submissions from the Osgoode Hall faculty, other law societies, students and practitioners, as well as local and national law associations. Most of these submissions argue for a return to higher entrance standards and for more academic law teaching as a long-term solution. Despite the grim economic climate, students take a night off to watch hockey at the newly opened Maple Leaf Gardens or go dancing at clubs like the Silver Slipper. This is a program from the first game played at the Gardens on November 12, 1931.
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1932 - Changing Admission Requirements
The minimum standard for admission as student-at-law returns to passing marks upon graduation from high school, plus either graduating from high school with Honours or the completion of the first year of university. View of Osgoode Hall and the newly constructed Canada Life building, 1934.
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