15/11/21
In 2016, I attended an event where Marie Henein was the keynote speaker. It was one of those events geared to young women in the legal profession. Usually at events like this, the speakers rattle on about the fictional notion of “work life balance” and how to manage a career and running a household. By the way, these talks never happen at events geared towards men.
At the time of this event, I had recently had a baby and was feeling all the uncertainty and insecurities that come with being a first-time mom. I was lost and trying to find my way in the legal industry, and Henein’s keynote was a breath of fresh air. She delivered the straight goods. No sugar coating or fluff. She talked about her experiences defending high-profile clients and making a name for herself as the top criminal defence lawyer in Canada.
That day, Henein told the crowd of young female lawyers in the room to avoid becoming cynical about the justice system and to never forget why we went to law school in the first place. She said “take your rightful place in this profession” and be confident about what you are doing.
I held onto every word of her speech and remember thinking at the time that this is the kind of empowering message I wanted my baby daughter to hear one day. Henein’s words truly had an impact on me. I continue to look to her for inspiration and I know many other women in law who consider Henein their hero.
I was, therefore, disgusted and appalled to learn that the organizer of a book club for adolescent girls was told by the Toronto District School Board that they would not promote an event scheduled with Henein this month about her new book, Nothing But the Truth: A Memoir . As reported by the Globe and Mail , the book club, which is largely attended by teenaged girls who come from low-income families, had planned an event where the girls would discuss the book and meet with Henein for a virtual discussion.
Apparently, Henein is too good at her job for the liking of the TDSB.
Tanya Lee, the organizer of the book club for four years, has alleged that she was told by the TDSB last month that they would not be promoting the event to their students because Henein defended former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, who was acquitted of multiple sexual assault charges. Apparently this sends the wrong message to girls. In the past, the TDSB has promoted Lee’s book club events.
It is so absurd it is hard to believe this actually happened.
[…]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Henein
https://www.droit-inc.com/article29794-Ecartee-pour-avoir-defendu-Jian-Ghomeshi
IAPL Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers 