The conservatives at Queen’s Park must have spent a busy day last Friday presenting all their close friends who happen to be lawyers with King’s Counsel (KC) designation. They got so enthusiastic for it they even made the mistake of giving the designation to Caroline Mulroney who has never taken the Bar Admission examination in Ontario. It is just one more stupid move by Doug Ford and his conservative followers.
It might have been the current solicitor general who dreamed up this dumb move. It was discontinued over 30 years ago by the liberal government of the time. It had become nothing more than idle patronage. All it did was confuse the gullible that these lawyers were something special other than just conservatives. Some people thought that these lawyers actually did the King’s (or Queen’s) legal work.
I must remember to bow low and address my member of the legislature (the current solicitor general) as ‘Your Worshipfullness’ if we ever find him in Barrie. We think of him as our absentee member of the legislature. He was dumped on us as a parachute candidate from further north in Severn, Ontario. He is the typical ward healer type of lawyer that the conservatives like to present with a King’s (or Queen’s) counsel designation. It is the cheapest form of patronage ever. It costs the government nothing but their credibility.
I was invited to join a poker group many years ago by my lawyer. I always admired him as a good friend but the guys in the poker group always kidded him for wanting to be a Queen’s Counsel. I knew how much it annoyed him when liberal premier David Peterson cancelled all the foolishness. Despite all the foofaraw about being a Queen’s Counsel, my guy was a damn good lawyer. He died a few years ago.
I think the funniest part of this entire business is that former premier, Hon. David Peterson is connected with the owners of the Toronto Star today and was already a KC.
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