Results Are in for Ontario’s Law Society Elections, a Battle Over ‘Woke Ideology’

A judge's gavel in a file photo. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Law Society of Ontario’s leadership election this year had a slate of candidates campaigning against “woke” policies. The election results were announced May 1, and this slate—called FullStop—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. Benchers are elected Law Society of Ontario (LSO) members who serve on the society’s decision-making body.

“To our voters: thank you for your support. ... Keep your civic engagement high—these pushback efforts are critically important, even if individual battles are lost.”

Equity, Inclusion, Diversity Principles

The FullStop slate first formed to oppose an LSO requirement that all lawyers officially commit to equity, inclusion, and diversity principles. The LSO required this statement of principles (SOP) as a condition of licensing starting in December 2016. The FullStop slate called itself StopSOP at the time.

“​The Statement of Principles was unconscionable,” Ottawa lawyer Stéphane Sérafin, a FullStop candidate, told The Epoch Times via email in March. “It significantly overstepped the mandate of the Law Society by requiring lawyers to affirm a certain set of beliefs instead of simply requiring external compliance with the law.”

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.

Sérafin said he’s concerned about Good Governance candidates having “the power to discipline members for failing to comply with woke ideology.”

StopSOP candidates reversed these measures following their election success in 2019. Sérafin expects the Good Governance Coalition to reinstate these initiatives in some form, though the coalition has said it will not revive the SOP itself.

Reactions to Election Results

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.”

Atrisha Lewis, who received the third highest number of votes, told The Epoch Times via email on May 1, “The professions have rejected a vision for the Law Society that is anti-equity.”

Bruce Pardy, a law professor at Queen’s University and part of the FullStop team, says “The law society has lost its way.” He said in an email to The Epoch times that it’s unfortunate lawyers have rejected the FullStop’s platform of combatting “woke overreach” among other problems.

But, he said, “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.”

Toronto lawyer Alexander Boissonneau-Lehner, who is a member of the electorate, not a candidate, said he is concerned the trend of party politics may become a permanent feature of the bencher elections. He said via email that there are lawyers part of both groups that he admires and, “In my opinion, the public interest is best served by having Benchers with diverse and even divergent perspectives on how to best regulate the profession.”