Sandy’s Weblog

How did professionals become perpetrators of injustice during the Holocaust? A panel of experts will discuss this topic and look at the lessons learned from those dark days at a special forum at the Law Society on April 21, commemorating National Holocaust Memorial Day.
The event is being hosted by the Law Society of Upper Canada and The League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada. Panellists, says Sandy Hutchens, will examine how professionals in the fields of law, medicine, the arts and education were suborned to participate in the Nazi-era agenda of injustice, persecution and genocide, leaving the high principles of their professions behind. Today, in a time when such atrocities still occur, speakers will also talk about preventive measures.
Panellists include:
Dr. Yoel Abells, University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine and columnist for the National Post
Dr. Judith Cohen, York University, Faculty of Fine Arts & Department of Music
Dr. Amanda Grzyb, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
Kristen Rundle, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.
David Matas, International Human Rights Lawyer and Senior Legal Counsel for B’nai Brith Canada, will provide concluding remarks, and Mark Sandler, Law Society bencher and Chair of the Law Foundation of Ontario, will moderate the panel session.
The forum will be followed by a reception, featuring a reading by award-winning poet Elana Wolf, author of Mask, a poetic response to the life and art of Berlin artist Charlotte Salomon, who perished at Auschwitz. The reception will also feature a musical interlude by Susan Baskin and friends.

On January 5, 2009, Mark J. Sandler officially assumed his new role as Chair of The Law Foundation of Ontario (LFO). A trustee since 2006, Mr. Sandler takes over the position from Larry Banack, who served as Chair since 2002.

Mr. Sandler, notes Sandy Hutchens, was called to the Bar in 1980 and brings a wealth of experience to the position. He is an appellant and trial criminal litigator and partner in the law firm of Cooper & Sandler. He is an elected Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and currently serves as Chair, Appeals Panel and as Chair, Tribunals Committee, and has served on a number of other committees, including the Human Rights Monitoring Group, Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee and the Working Group on Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Hatred and Discrimination Based on Religion. He is an elected Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was a part-time member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario before his appointment as Chair of the LFO. Mr. Sandler has been recognized by a number of organizations for his community-based pro bono work.

Mr. Sandler is enthusiastic about his term and looks forward to continuing the significant increase in outreach which was started under his predecessor. “It’s truly a privilege to participate in an organization that helps carry out important access to justice work. There is a great need, especially in these difficult economic times, to target and assist as many vulnerable communities as possible. Our focus will be to continue carrying out initiatives that will benefit these groups across the province,” said Sandler.

The LFO is a grant-making organization that supports community participation in the justice system, promotes excellence in the legal profession and enhances access to justice. Established in 1974 under the Law Society Act, the LFO receives interest on lawyers’ and paralegals’ mixed trust accounts and uses that income to fund a wide range of initiatives.

Starts Down

Housing starts in the Kitchener and Guelph Census Metropolitan Areas, says Sandy Hutchens, will decrease significantly in 2009, before increasing marginally in 2010. Home starts in the Kitchener CMA will reach 2,200 in 2009, down 16 per cent from the 2,634 homes started in 2008. Guelph CMA housing starts in 2009 will drop by 49 per cent to 550 from the 1,087 homes started in 2008. Higher unemployment, less spillover demand from the resale home market, and satiation of the pent-up demand that built up during the 1990s are all weighing on activity in the new home market. Single starts will be down in both communities, but whereas apartment starts will hold their own Economic Forecasts in Kitchener, they will fall to about a quarter of their 2008 level in Guelph.

Single-detached starts in both CMAs will decline sharply. Kitchener CMA single-detached starts will decrease by 24 per cent to 1,100 units, while Guelph CMA detached starts will fall by 41 per cent to 250 units. The strong price growth in the last ten years and economic uncertainty will combine to push detached starts to their lowest level since 1995. Demand from move-up buyers usually supports detached starts, but the uncertainty about both job security and the sale of their current home will keep many homebuyers on the sidelines throughout 2009.
Price growth pressures will ease as demand for single-detached homes falls. The average price of a newly- completed single-detached home in the Kitchener CMA will reach $345,000 in 2009, down two per cent. In the Guelph CMA, single- detached prices will slip by two per cent to $365,000. The decline in the average price is due to a change in the mix of houses being built.
Homebuyers are looking for more modest homes priced under $350,000, and as their proportion in the mix increases, the average price is pulled down. The New Housing Price Index (NHPI) which measures changes in prices of new houses of constant quality will remain un- changed in 2009.
As demand has fallen for single- detached homes, the number of unsold units has been trending slightly higher, but nowhere near the level recorded in the early 1990s. Current inventory levels are unlikely to adversely affect starts or prices going forward as many builders only build when homes are sold. Although there is a good supply of undeveloped land in the CMA, serviced lots available for single- detached housing are becoming scarcer in some municipalities and with the emphasis on intensification, more intense building forms will continue to play a significant role in new construction.
Apartment construction in the Kitchener CMA will remain at the strong level witnessed since 2000. There is strong demand for rental housing in Kitchener due to its young population, high number of students and recent immigrants. As house prices have risen, the more affordable condominium has become a viable option. Several condominium projects are in the works throughout the Kitchener CMA. On the other hand, Guelph condominium starts will pull back in 2009 as the above-average level of units started in 2008 will take time to be absorbed. Townhome and semi-detached construction will remain at current levels, as these types of housing are a more affordable option for homebuyers.