Second Year at Glendon Hall (1968 - 1969)

The return to school in the Fall of the year has always been a delight to me. The delight has continued even to this day, long after I have stopped "returning to school". For me, September is a time of rejuvenation, new beginnings, excitement and expectation. On the more mundane level, I always have my annual medical examination at this time of year. In a style not unusual for this period, I report:

Third Year at Glendon Hall (1969 - 1970)

This year appears to have been the clash between the Titan forces of religion and peer groups. No doubt some of the privilege of dwelling in those regions arose from the degree of liberty one feels as the course of study draws to a close, and one is a "senior". A good deal of the entries reflect my somewhat depressed view of my environment, the people, myself, my world:

No sunshine today. A place for despair only. There was no movement; the air lay very still. The breath of lethargy fell upon the campus. February 9, 1970.

But the winner was God, to whom I continued to look for guidance and direction. To this day, I often feel that it is only through a relationship with God that the world makes sense. While I have not as yet suffered any great loss or hardship, I somehow feel that such a religious focus will be the answer to all problems, big or small.

Law School at Dalhousie University, Halifax (1970 - 1973)

Law School revitalized me in many ways. It was the first time I had been out of the Toronto area (or "Upper Canada", as it was called in the Maritimes) for many years. I was away from literally everyone I knew, and I had lots of time on my hands to think about the past and to develop in directions that amused or pleased me. There was clearly less pressure on me from others, because I had no standard to conform to, other than any I may have had for myself. It was also a lonely time, and in fact it must have got the best of me, because I reapplied to Osgoode Hall (which had previously accepted me, but I had declined) for admission and was again accepted for my second and subsequent years. However, Dean Murray Fraser specifically asked me to stay, which of course I did, and I have never regretted that decision.

Articles at Macdonald, Affleck, Ottawa (1973 - 1974)

The singular feature about Articling (at least in the days when I did it) was that you barely got paid for it. If I remember correctly, my annual salary may have approached $4,000, if that. Which meant that the luxuries of life were unattainable, and one even had to be creative about the necessities. Fortunately for me, the necessities were all I needed at that time. Having broken off my engagement with Heather in the summer after leaving Halifax, I made a not unexpected about-face which included a passionate conviction to losing weight, eating only raw foods, no drinking (though I still smoked very heavily), very little socializing, going to bed early, getting up early to bicycle as much as 150 miles a week, and the like - or the dislike, if you will! I lived in Pestallozzi College, 160 Chapel Street on the corner of Rideau Street.

The Bar Admission Course at Osgoode Hall (September, 1974 - May, 1975)

Interestingly, there is a complete gap in my diaries from the time when I finished my Articles (August, 1974) until February 5, 1976 (when I was back working at Macdonald, Affleck). Had the gap been any earlier, I probably would not remember much about it. However, my times at Osgoode Hall were largely my times at Devonshire House as a Don, and I recall those days vividly. It was like returning to boarding school, but armed with all the knowledge and wisdom I had gained about living in that sort of environment. I recall, for example, peering out the window of my ground floor suite of rooms and seeing a new student arrive at the commencement of term with his parents.

First Year of Practice at Macdonald, Affleck in Ottawa (September, 1975 - June, 1976)

I have to say that Macdonald, Affleck did in fact give me my “fifteen minutes of fame” to which Andy Warhol purportedly said each of us is entitled or destined. That fame came in the form of an appearance before not only the Federal Court of Appeal, but also the Supreme Court of Canada (Appeal Division). To set the stage, there were twenty-five lawyers, all of whom (except me) wore a silk gown. Mine was a “stuff” gown. The reason at that time that I did not have a silk gown was that only those who had been given the honour of a Queen’s Counsel designation from either the Federal or Provincial Governments were entitled to “take silk”; and, only those who had practised for no less than ten years were even qualified for consideration a Queen’s Counsel appointment. I, on the other hand, was only in my first year of practice.

Law Practice at Galligan and Sheffield in Almonte (June 7, 1976 - February 28, 1978)

The upheaval of moving from Ottawa to Almonte clearly consumed a lot of my time and energy. There was so much to do, including finding a place to live, buying my first dog (“Lannie”, a yellow labrador), getting settled into the law practice (which primarily involved dealing with all the neglected files of Galligan and Sheffield), meeting new people, making new friends and coming to terms with being somewhat isolated in an Ottawa Valley village. My first entry in a diary after leaving Ottawa in June of 1976 was almost a year later on July 5, 1977: