The Ontario Law Society’s leadership election this year had a slate of candidates called FullStop campaigning against “woke” policies. The election results were announced May 1, and the FullStop slate lost to the opposing Good Governance Coalition.
Good Governance candidates took all 40 of the seats. In the last election, in 2019, the FullStop slate had won 22 of the 40 seats.
Despite their defeat this year, the FullStop team says they received more votes than in 2019. “Congratulations to the new benchers,” FullStop wrote on Twitter. “To our voters: thank you for your support. In spite of nasty messaging, more of the profession voted for us than in 2019. Keep your civic engagement high—these pushback efforts are critically important, even if individual battles are lost.”
The slate first formed to oppose a Law Society requirement that all lawyers—as a condition of being allowed to practice law in the province—officially commit to equity, inclusion, and diversity. The professional regulator required this statement of principles (SOP) starting in December 2016. The FullStop slate called itself at the time StopSOP.
The SOP was one of 13 items the Law Society enacted in 2016 focused on equity. One of the other items, for example, was a requirement that law firms of a certain size create supports for “racialized” lawyers. Another item changed the Law Society’s code of professional conduct to include an obligation to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Ottawa lawyer Stéphane Sérafin, a FullStop candidate, told The Epoch Times via email in March that he’s concerned about Good Governance candidates having “the power to discipline members for failing to comply with woke ideology.”
StopSOP reversed these measures following their election success in 2019.
The Good Governance Coalition’s statement following its win on May 1 said, “We formed the Coalition to give paralegals and lawyers a clear choice to elect Benchers who reflect our professions’ values, professionalism, and the professions themselves. We welcome their choice of diversity over division and look forward to serving the public interest.”
Bruce Pardy, a law professor at Queen’s University and part of the FullStop team, told The Epoch Times via email on May 1, “The law society has lost its way, and we wanted to rein in bloated spending, mission creep, and woke overreach. Unfortunately, the profession has voted to reject the reforms that we proposed.”
He continued, “Our candidates and supporters should be proud of their courage and vision. It is not always easy to stand against the status quo, the fashionable view, or the condemnation of the establishment.”