THE ADVOCATE V O L . 7 9 P A R T 5 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 655
ON THE
FRONT COVER
By D. Michael Bain, Q.C.*
T his month’s cover subjects probably did not expect to appear
on the cover of the Advocate. Such an appearance is typically
preceded by a phone call, an invitation, a chance to meet with
the portrait artist for a photoshoot, a swearing to secrecy, a
carefully prepared tribute and then the great trepidation of waiting to see
how good one might look in a portrait that goes out to every lawyer and
many judges in the province (and beyond). Back in the day, there was a
hanging of the portrait at the Law Courts Inn. This time, no such luck.
There is no formal portrait. There is no Law Courts Inn and, alas, there is
no personalized glowing tribute (although we all think you are fantastic!).
Astute readers will have deduced over the years that the Advocate’s January
cover is usually dedicated to the new president of the Law Society, while
the November cover typically depicts the new president of the CBABC. That
leaves four covers per year for us to choose. Sometimes people write in to
nominate someone. More often, I sit down with the assistant editor to discuss
a sea of potential candidates. For September 2021, we have sidestepped
this approach and are instead depicting a few “Advocate superfans”.
What warrants this rather dramatic departure from tradition? Well, we
have heard one bencher query why there are so many Advocate “superfans”
out there. Now, I appreciate that I live and breathe the Advocate and am one
of the few people who reads every magazine cover to cover (several times,
in fact), but I have never wondered why there are superfans of the Advocate.
Res ipsa loquitur?
* D. Michael Bain, Q.C., is the editor of the Advocate.