For Immediate Release
August 15, 2008
QUÉBEC CITY – A. Alan Borovoy, O.C., General Counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) for more than 40 years, has been named the winner of the Canadian Bar Association's (CBA) 2008 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the law.
“Alan has been called the face of civil liberties in this country, and rightly so,” said Judge Sean Dunnigan, Chair of the CBA Awards Committee. “The breadth of his contributions to both civil liberties law and legal scholarship has been remarkable; the benefit derived by so many Canadians from his efforts, immeasurable.”
Since joining the CCLA in 1968, Borovoy has been involved in a wide range of civil liberties issues, including freedom of speech, opposition to the death penalty, non-discrimination, the rights of aboriginal peoples, and religious freedom. During his tenure, the CCLA has played a pivotal role in the interpretation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and made significant interventions in the Supreme Court of Canada. A recent example is Charkaoui v. Canada, a 2007 case that examined the constitutionality of certain “security certificate” provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Borovoy’s advocacy work pre-dates the Charter. In the mid-1960s he organized a march by more than 400 aboriginal people in Kenora, Ontario that helped to re-create their aboriginal treaty organization. His 1961 delegation to the Ontario legislature led to legislation against racial discrimination in housing, a development which laid the groundwork for the Ontario Human Rights Code.
As General Counsel of the CCLA, Borovoy has made presentations to public inquiries and given testimony before parliamentary committees on issues such as mandatory drug-testing in the workplace, wiretapping, and police race-relations. Among the many causes he has championed, he was a driving force behind the need for citizen complaints against the police to be investigated independently. His involvement contributed to provincial and federal legislation enacting an independent process.
“He has ensured that Canada is a better country through his efforts to persuade, educate about, and fundamentally effect this country’s legal development in the area of civil liberties,” said nominator Edward Greenspan, Q.C.
Borovoy has been a university lecturer, newspaper columnist, and commentator on a public affairs program. Among his writings are four books, including Categorically Incorrect – Ethical Fallacies in Canada’s War on Terror and When Freedoms Collide, which was nominated for a Governor General’s award.
Borovoy received his bachelor of arts in 1953 and his bachelor of laws in 1956 from the University of Toronto. He was admitted to the Ontario bar in 1958, has received four Honourary Doctor of Laws Degrees, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1982.
Established in 1993 by then-governor-general Ramon John Hnatyshyn, the Hnatyshyn Award for Law recognizes outstanding contribution to the law or legal scholarship in Canada.
The 2008 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law will be presented at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday Aug. 16, 2008, in the Québec City Convention Centre, room 2000A, as part of the 2008 Canadian Legal Conference. The event is open to accredited journalists who have registered with the CBA Media Centre.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Aug. 15-19, Québec City Convention Centre, room 2103, Tel: 418-649-5218; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
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