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presided. The Walkem proceeding was described as the longest to date in
British Columbia, and was one of the most scandalous. Despite the press
flurry, those articles were peculiarly discrete on two matters. The first was
the charge and particulars of the offence: George A. Walkem was accused of
counselling the complainant Blanche Bond, whom he had impregnated and
may have promised to wed, to obtain an abortion.38 The second was the fact
that the accused was a nephew of former premier and Supreme Court
justice George A. Walkem,39 who, perhaps mercifully, had died earlier that
year, before his nephew’s arrest.40 Public interest was stoked by the complainant’s
repeated fainting and outbursts, as well as her brother’s pre-
hearing physical attack on the accused, all in the courtroom.41 Two of three
judges of the Supreme Court, sitting as a full court in appeal, directed the
matter back to Cane C.C.J. for a retrial.42 The press continued to report on
every word of the trial, including, perhaps regrettably, Cane C.C.J.’s comment
that “he entirely disagreed with the decision of the Full Court, but he
must bow to it”. He also agreed with counsel that he was “entirely at sea as
to what Mr. Justice Clement meant in his judgment,” even after he had personally
discussed the appeal judgment with Clement J. himself.43
The front-page Victoria Daily Times report of his death noted that the two
Walkem trials had greatly strained his health, and his heart in particular.44
The trial ultimately was heard, for a third time, before Lampman C.C.J.,
ordinarily resident in Victoria, who found Walkem guilty and sentenced
him to nine months in jail.45
It appears that Judge Cane enjoyed the admiration of the bar: the funeral
expenses were covered by contributions from most of the leading barristers
of the time.
During Cane’s brief tenure, Vancouver received a second County Court
judge, in David Grant (1907 to 1928). Grant C.C.J. would go on to live
almost twice as long as his predecessor, and serve 21 years on the bench. A
native of New Brunswick, and a graduate of Boston Law School, he came in
1900 to British Columbia, where he was the last lawyer called to the bar in
the 19th century.46
Judge Grant himself participated in at least three legal proceedings in a
personal capacity while sitting as a judge. Early in his tenure, he sparked a
public inquiry into Chinese immigration with his letter alleging that “there
is no doubt there has been a well-laid scheme to defraud the government
and that certain parasites of the Liberal Party have profited to a large extent
thereby”. The judge was cross-examined on his letter in the inquiry before
Denis Murphy J. of the Supreme Court.47 In 1916, Grant C.C.J. testified
before Westminster County Court Judge Frederick Howay, having been