By John Michael McGrath

Some of the province's most prominent legal experts gathered in the Hogwartsian splendor of Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto on Thursday night to celebrate the renewed mandate of the Law Commission of Ontario. And while the guests included justices on the Ontario Court of Appeals and deans at two major law schools, the atmosphere was festive, not overly sober.

"Every time I want to congratulate the LCO, I almost say 'LCBO' but then our funders would really wonder what we were doing with their money," cracked Mark Sandler, trustee at the Law Foundation of Ontario, which helps fund the group.

The Law Commission of Ontario was established in 2007 as a partnership between the Ministry of the Attorney General and several of Ontario's leading law schools, including York University's Osgoode Hall, the Universities of Ottawa, Toronto, Western Ontario, Windsor, and Queen's University. Its initial mandate ran from 2007-2012, and the LCO was granted another five-year mandate in January 2012. Thursday's celebration was to mark the work the group has done so far, and to look forward to the work to come.

Law Commission of Ontario reception at Osgoode Hall. Photo by John Michael McGrath.

"It was partly a celebration," said executive director Patricia Hughes, "and also a thank-you to people."

Hughes says she's particularly proud of the work the LCO has done on how the province's laws affect seniors and people with disabilities, but more than any one report or conference is proud of how the LCO has engaged with groups across the province to see how laws can be reformed to better serve different communities across Ontario.

Larry Banack, a former chair of the LCO who was honoured Thursday night, agreed. "To the people who are involved, it's enormously important — but they don't often have a voice unless there's a lobby group or a significant relationship with an MPP.

"To the extent that we can shine a light in those corners and advance the discussion," said Banack, the LCO is "enormously important."

"It's a mark of how important the LCO is that it didn't exist five years ago, but now it's fundamentally established because of its work," said Justice Stephen Goudge of the Court of Appeals. Lorne Sossin, dean of the Osgoode Hall Law School, agreed.

"It's clear this is thriving, and bringing in people who aren't normally part of the process. That's the most exciting part," Sossin said.

One of the people brought in to the consultation process is Mary Hynes, who works with the Older Women's Network and was part of the advisory group that helped structure the report on reforming Ontario's laws to better serve seniors.

"There was only one or two lawyers in the room — the rest of us were people from various organizations," the Toronto activist said. As well as her organization, there were consultations across the province to reach out to other groups representing seniors. "There was an LGBT group, there was a northern group, there was an immigrant group, etc."

Hynes hopes that the work that went into the report she helped craft isn't wasted. "I'm hoping that the lawmakers actually look at this stuff. Judges, arbitrators, people who are actually making decisions about the law, I'm happy for that."

The LCO is hosting a symposium Friday at the Law Society of Upper Canada focusing on its work on people with disabilities. Lt. Governor David Onley is keynote speaker, and former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, also will attend.

As for the future, Banack says the toughest part will be picking and choosing the doable projects that can be completed in the next five years.

"We've got a list of 80-100 wonderful projects that deserve attention. If we can deal with five of them we'll be doing really well."

Law Commission of Ontario celebrates first 5 years

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