This spring, leading members of the legal community converged at the OBA’s Awards Gala to celebrate achievement in law. There were Bay Street litigators and sole practitioners, social justice advocates and diversity partners, sitting and retired justices – and one intrepid elected official: MPP Doug Downey. Downey was there to present the David Walter Mundell Medal for Excellence in Legal Writing, representing the Ministry of the Attorney General – the ministry that just two short months later he would be leading.
With his June 20th appointment as Attorney General for Ontario, Downey assumes a critical role in cabinet, acting as Chief Law Officer of the Crown responsible for the administration of justice in the province. For those who’ve worked alongside him, his rapid rise comes as no surprise.
In a whirlwind first year as the elected member for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte, MPP Doug Downey landed at Queen’s Park seeming as though he was born there. After having been elected in June 2018, the government handed him important roles as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance, Deputy Government Whip, and Vice-Chair, Select Committee on Financial Transparency, in addition to appointing him to conduct the legislative review of the Mortgage Brokerages, Lenders and Administrators Act, 2006.
His approach to carrying out these duties was honed through years of collaboration with his colleagues in the profession – and perhaps in part from countless hours serving as a volunteer at the OBA to identify and overcome challenges facing lawyers and the public they serve. His determination to help lawyers better serve the public leverages the value of consensus advice derived from those active on the front lines of the justice system. So if no surprise, it was no less a cause for celebration in the legal community that the first bill he introduced as a legislative member this past spring, Bill 88, brought forward practical, well-planned reform championing the public good.
Obviously not all private members bills are created equal. Often they are either extremely narrowly defined or, alternatively, too broadly emblematic in intent to have thorough and formative impact on multi-faceted issues. By contrast, the PMB that Downey introduced proposes amendments to the Planning Act that have been praised by lawyers in Ontario as well crafted, appropriately targeted, and poised to bring lasting, positive change to the profession and the public. As Downey himself noted, the 23 amendments laid out in the bill were designed with insights from practice-area experts like Sid Troister and Ray LeClair to “fix things that were broken.”
“This legislation would eliminate archaic requirements and allow lawyers to serve clients’ needs without unnecessary red tape that wastes time, adds expense and introduces traps for lawyers,” says Craig Carter, partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and OBA Real Property executive member who participated in an OBA working group that reviewed the proposal. “This PMB is effective because Doug did his homework – collecting input from lawyers who counsel clients daily on real estate issues – to create a smart bill that he was able to advance.” With Downey now taking responsibility as Attorney General, the OBA will continue to keep these Planning Act reforms moving forward.
“As a highly involved and productive member of the OBA Board several years ago, and as a vocal and forward-looking member of provincial parliament, Doug has earned a reputation as a person of both ideas and action,” says OBA President Lynne Vicars.
Not content simply to add to the conversation and effect change himself, in roles like OBA Board treasurer, secretary, and committee chair on the Law Practice Program, Downey has always encouraged others to get involved and share their expertise to produce informed progress – an inclination that should serve him well as Attorney General.
“Doug is someone we know will consult with and listen to the profession with a fair and open mind, and who will act on that information to craft legislation that really works for the legal sector and the people we serve,” says Vicars.
There are undoubtedly very significant issues for AG Downey to address on behalf of the profession and the public, but if past experience is any predictor of the way forward, he is well positioned to succeed in that role.