Miller
Continued From Page 5
Yes, it is, in fact, that entrenched
in Canadian history, and thereby
all the more distinct from U.S his-
tory. We tend to think of the GG as
a relic of British imperialism, but
during our first century and a half,
the governor general represented
the French monarch. Which is
why it’s quintessentially Canadian
when convention says we should
cycle appointments between a
bilingual francophone and a bilin-
gual anglophone.
Jeffrey Miller is a writer, adjunct
professor of law and literature at
the University of Western Ontario
(Faculty of Law), and freelance
English-French translator. His
latest book is Murder on the
Rebound, a comic novel set in
Toronto’s legal community.
We want to hear from you!
E-mail us at: tlw@lexisnexis.ca ;
‘Violence
mars that
truth’
Security
Continued From Page 3
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name,” said Woodburn, “but it’s
on behalf of anyone who walks
through those doors.”
Push may have come to shove
when the justice minister pub-
licly responded to the Crowns’
concerns — by dismissing them.
Ross Landry was quoted as say-
ing that putting metal detectors
in courthouses across the prov-
ince would be too expensive.
And unnecessary.
“The cost of that, when I think
that the system is safe, would be
astronomical to the taxpayers,”
Landry, a former police officer,
told local reporters.
Interestingly, metal detectors
were installed in Province House
several years ago after a man
wielding a knife was removed
from the public gallery. The first
suggestion that the workplace of
Nova Scotia’s elected officials
should be more secure came in
2001 when then House Speaker
Murray Scott said he would be
looking to purchase a metal detector after a group dropped toilet
paper squares and suspended a
bar of soap from the public gallery. According to Scott, such
actions posed a threat.
“Well if it’s O.K. to throw a cake
of soap what about a small piece
of rock, or a short piece of wood,”
he told CBC TV. “No one would
tolerate someone throwing some-
thing at them, that’s an assault.”
For Woodburn and his col-
leagues, a dangerous workplace is
also an assault to justice. “A
courthouse is a place where
people come to seek justice. It’s a
place to bring out the truth. Vio-
lence mars that truth.
“We can’t work under those
conditions,” he said. “Something
has to be done.” ;
