THE ADVOCATE 417
VOL. 79 PART 3 MAY 2021
part of a legal team representing the Empowerment Council, a non-profit
advocacy organization for people with mental health and substance use
issues. The judgment found a breach of s. 15 of the Charter, advancing the
rights of people with mental health and addictions.
MOOTING VICTORIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The competitive moot season for the 2020/21 academic year is wrapping
up. This year, all competitions were virtual, due to the ongoing pandemic.
Overall, 33 TRU Law students participated in competitive moots. TRU Law
received awards at the Bowman and Jessup national competitions. The
Bowman Tax Law Moot team was awarded Top Appellant Factum. The factum
was written by Kiran Mangat and Simran Oberoi, with support from
Ripple Kaila.
TRU Law’s team in the Jessup International Law Moot was awarded
Third Top Respondent Memorial Prize, Fourth Overall Memorial Prize, and
Third Overall Oralist (Sam Macdonald). The respondent memorial was
written by Sanda Sijercic and Sam Macdonald, with support from Shanna
Kean. The Jessup Moot team also competed in the global rounds throughout
March, competing against teams from Afghanistan, Germany, Mexico,
the United Kingdom and the United States.
This year, TRU Law competed in the Western Canada Family Law Negotiation
Moot for the first time. TRU Law is indebted to the coaches of the
moots for their hard work this year in having the moots run virtually. We
want to thank Desmond MacMillan, Monica Cheng, Ahmed Elsaghir,
Amanda Winters, Greg Pun, Q.C., Laryssa Borowyk, Nicole Schabus,
Chrystie Stewart, Frank Caputo, Don Mann, Jon Heshka, Sarah Chaster,
Grace McDonell and Emily MacKinnon. Thanks also to the chair of the
Moots Committee and Jessup coach, Dr. Ryan Gauthier.
It is a great pleasure to be addressing the profession, through its venerable
and ubiquitous voice, the Advocate, and I look forward to our getting to
know each other through these pages and as I meet more and more of you
in the months and years ahead.