PRINCIPALS:
Moderator: Stephen Scott, Professor, Law Faculty, McGill University
Morris Rosenberg, Deputy Minister, Department of Justice
Peter Leuprecht, Dean, Law Faculty, McGill University
Lecturer: Dr. Geoffrey Marshall, Fellow of the British Academy

Morris Rosenberg

Thank you, Professor Scott.

Members of the judiciary, colleagues of John's, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to the first John Tait Memorial Lecture. I would especially like to welcome John's wife, Sonia Plourde; his parents, Jack and Eleanor Tait; and his brother, David.

Before Professor Scott introduces our very distinguished speaker, I would like to say a few words about how this event came about and what it represents.

This first lecture, co-sponsored by the federal Department of Justice and McGill's Faculty of Law, is in memory of John Tait, who was a friend, a colleague, and a mentor to many of you.

Let me tell you a little bit about John's background.

John Tait was a distinguished scholar and public servant. He was a graduate of the McGill Law School, as well as of Princeton and Oxford. So it is fitting that two of these three institutions are involved in this first lecture of the series that bears his name.

John came from a distinguished family of public servants who combine a deep love of Canada with a devotion to the use of reason in administering the affairs of state. His ability to rigorously assess the merits and weaknesses of public policies allowed him to make outstanding contributions to many important government files, including the federal Access to Information and Privacy legislation, the Official Languages Act, and the early stages of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and its application to the Government of Canada.

John Tait earned the respect of the Aboriginal community during his term at the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development from 1981 to 1983. He worked in close collaboration with the James Bay Cree during a time marked by distrust and lack of respect, and John brought with him a sense of values and renewed respect.

As Deputy Minister of Justice from 1988 to 1994, John Tait was a huge presence in the Department, in the government as a whole, and in Canada's legal community. He was involved in many of the key issues of the day, ranging from relations with First Nations to rethinking the government's approach on environmental assessment, and to efforts to modernize the constitutional framework within which the Canadian federation operates - to give you a small sample of the issues with which he was involved.

John Tait had many excellent qualities, including a great commitment to the principles and to the practical applications of public law, a great affection for Quebec and for Montreal, where he grew up, and a passion for his country. So we thought it would be appropriate that McGill University should organize this lecture. When we discussed it with Peter Leuprecht, he accepted our suggestion quickly and generously, and I would like to thank him and his colleagues, particularly Professor Stephen Scott, for their cooperation.

I'm very happy, as John would have been, to see so many people turn out for this evening's lecture. I look forward to a stimulating talk and a lively discussion afterwards. No doubt, during the proceedings, many of us will think of John and perhaps even feel his presence among us, listening attentively, making illegible notes to himself, and asking penetrating questions.

Thank you.

Stephen Scott

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Minister.

A native of the north of England, Geoffrey Marshall was educated at Arnold School, Blackpool, and at Manchester University, and earned his PhD at Glasgow. A Research Fellowship at Nuffield College brought him to Oxford in 1955, where he has remained ever since - first as a Fellow and tutor in politics at The Queen's College from 1957 to 1993, and thereafter as Provost of the College, its head of house, until August of 1999. He is now an Emeritus Fellow of the College and, since 1971, a Fellow of the British Academy.

Tonight, however, we do not welcome Dr. Marshall only as a distinguished scholar from abroad. He is also a former member of this Faculty, having spent the Fall term of 1977-78 with us, teaching Statutory Interpretation and Legal Theory. I must resist almost entirely the temptation of enumerating our guest's many talents and distinctions. You may care to know, however, that he was for a time a soccer player on a Blackpool team. He also knew the rough-and-tumble of politics on the Oxford City Council, from 1965 to 1974, as a councillor chosen by the University. In 1970-71, he was the last-ever University Sheriff of the City of Oxford before, as he puts it, University councilors were abolished, in 1974, as "a danger to democracy." As Sheriff, it was his annual duty to round up horses and cattle illegally grazing in the Port Meadow. As he explains, "The Sheriff traditionally led a posse of horsemen. Not having a posse or a horse, I think I used a bicycle." You will all agree that this is a first-class example of practical initiative and economy in hands-on government.

Author of many scholarly works, mainly on constitutional theory, law, and practice, Dr. Marshall has also penned occasional satirical and comic sketches. His writing is characterized by subtle humour, perceptiveness, clarity, and lightness of touch. Sometimes, his satirical essays amuse readers of scholarly journals like the McGill Law Journal where, in 1978, his piece "Cultural Sovereignty in the U.K.: A Glance Ahead" imagined a Scottish Official Garment Act, modelled on Quebec's Charter of the French Language. Tonight, he will bring us up to date with a tour d'horizon on constitutional developments in the United Kingdom.

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