424 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 3 MAY 2021
We were a group of older law students in September of 1972, having a
somewhat gentler perspective due to life experience. We aggregated
around a community-based legal services group helping disadvantaged or
underfinanced individuals, attending at city cells and advising on rights in
detention, some trials in Provincial Court (traffic, possession, tenant
rights). Paul was a stalwart, putting as much or more time into representing
people than into his coursework. Socializing was legendary, and he
knew then, as he continued to demonstrate thereafter, that it is the people
you care about that should be the first priority. I recall a trip out to the
Edmonton International Airport one subzero night in his MGC roadster
(which remains with Ruth to this day), at a rate of speed that exhausted
the limits of the electric overdrive—just for something to do. I bought his
stereo system when he left for British Columbia and still have it.
Brian D. Ross, Q.C., of Kamloops recalls their longstanding friendship
going back to high school:
We met in high school, partied hard and became lifelong friends. We were
in the same fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, and though life separated us,
each time we reconnected it was as if no time had gone by. Paul was
much more politically wise than me and taught me a thing or two.
Nephew Sean Warshawski, a partner at Ritzen Warshawski LLP of
Edmonton, was inspired by Paul to become a lawyer:
One of the things my uncle instilled in me was to never unquestioningly
accept authority. While that attitude may have gotten me in trouble when
I was younger, it has served me very well in my practice! However, what
I will remember most, and what will likely serve me best, was my uncle’s
sense of fun. Whether I was a child or later when I was an adult, I always
knew that whenever he was around, and no matter what we were doing,
we were going to have fun! Given the stresses and challenges that go
along with the practice of law, we as lawyers should remember to “make
it fun”. He was a great influence in the law and in life.
Richard Fyfe, Q.C., Deputy Attorney General for British Columbia,
recalls Paul’s involvement in high-profile matters (including the Cariboo-
Chilcotin Justice Inquiry and the Kemano Completion Project) and his
encyclopedic knowledge of environmental law, on which he drew regularly
to ensure that government was able to fulfill its obligations and still move
forward with projects in the public interest. He also recalls a less complimentary
anecdote, when Paul tried his hand at beer making and brought a
number of samples along to a Legal Services Branch retreat at Mesachie
Lake. Production flaws meant the bottles tended to spray everywhere when
opened, though apparently everyone was able to salvage enough to enjoy
themselves while they discussed the day’s events.
Brian M. Neal, Q.C., says:
I recall early on in my tenure as a Law Services Branch lawyer, I was
invited by Paul to join a large group of our colleagues on his boat for a