Gerard Paul Charette
Lawyer Bencher Candidate – Southwest Region

Priorities
1) LSO must do less. Many Initiatives have nothing to do with its jurisdiction. (For example, see Human Rights Monitoring Group Initiative from LSO website) The result is a set of confusing and unmanageable activities. This leads to too many staff cranking out too many draft rules, policy papers, memos, etc. Therefore, 2) We no longer have self-governance. We have staff-governance. 3) Regulate less and, when regulating, be practical. 4) LSO spending is out of control. It projects deficits for the current and next fiscal period. 5) LSO has confused social activism with the regulation of lawyerly practice. It seeks to be a sort of all purpose NGO instead of a society that regulates lawyerly practice. 6) the Statement of Principles (SOP) is a good example of social activism run amok. SOP is demeaning to the overwhelming majority of good lawyers who respect equality. 7) Moreover, LSO is not satisfied with SOP. It want to apply more pressure. See Compliance Based Entity Regulation from the Initiatives tab on the LSO website. It lays out the plan to enforce SOP according to its rigid and unreasonable notion of equality. Watch out! 8) Lack of transparency in voting in Convocation. Some Benchers spoke against SOP and then proceed to vote for it. This is untenable.
Background
Since 1980, I have practiced tax planning in Windsor at Miller Canfield and its predecessor firms. Throughout my career, I have lectured on tax planning for diverse associations, including the Canadian Tax Foundation, the Michigan State Bar, and Michigan’s Public Accountants.
I am a past director of TV Ontario and past lay member of the Council of the College of Optometrists.
I devote personal time to part-time academics. I am about to complete an MA and begin a new project at the University of Windsor. My area of study is theological aesthetics comprising Jewish, Islamic and Eastern studies and visual arts.
I also volunteer as a church deacon by serving the needs of men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
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Candidates I support
All members of the Stop SOP slate of candidates. Please visit www.stopsop.ca
Something the LSO does that it should stop doing
LSO needs to start acting within the Limits of its jurisdiction. It regularly exceeds its jurisdiction by engaging in a variety of expensive social activism projects
Something the LSO doesn't do that it should start doing
Regulate Less and be practical. For example real estate lawyers are rightly concerned that some regulations are intellectually tidy, but they don’t work in practice.
website
charette@millercanfield.com
social media
visit stopsop.ca
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Access to Justice
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LSO Governance Reform
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Cost of Legal Education
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Statement of Principles
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Artificial Intelligence in Legal Service Delivery
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Pathways to Licensing
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Unbundled Legal Service Delivery
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Entity-Based Regulation
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Duty of Technological Competence
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Reconciliation and Indigenous Communities
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Alternative Business Structures
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Advertising and Fee Arrangements
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Specific Enhancements to Licensing System
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Should LSO be in the CPD Business?
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How Can LSO Support Licensees?
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Improving Mental Health
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LSO Funding Priorities
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Diversity and Inclusivity Priorities
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Scope of practice for paralegals and non-licensees
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FOLA asks: Thoughts on Funding Staffed Local Law Libraries
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Other topics
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