When Ian Smith became Premier of Ontario, he spoke out from the roof tops.
(well not really but figuratively that’s what he did!)
“My first year in office I will be in learning mode, figuring out how everything works around here.”
And then? “JUST WATCH ME.”
A year later, he was as good as his word.
“From what I’ve observed, if you want laws to be obeyed,
they’ve got to be made by the people whom the law is going to affect.
“We are going to create the Class Action Act. And for that we’ve called representatives from ALL the groups who are going to be affected by this law: big business; small business; labor, women; minorities, etc. etc. etc.
“And we’ve made a commitment to them. You guys come up with a unanimous decision of what the contents of the Act should be, and I will use all my moxie in the legislature to get it passed into law.”
Ian Smith called in Michael Cochrane to lead the representatives from each group.
Cochrane, today a well-known and highly respected lawyer, at the top of his game,
was then a promising young lawyer at the beginning of his career.
He spent three months practicing how to mediate a group
in order to get himself ready for what was to make history.
What followed then were weeks and weeks of grueling days.
Each of the representatives sitting around a table.
And when agreement had been reached on the point under discussion,
they adjourned so that each of the reps could return
to the major group they represented for ratification.
Then one day they hit a road block. The labor rep looked beaten.
“Guys, I hate to tell you, but if the point we’ve been hammering out takes this particular shape,
my guys back at Head Office won’t ratify it.”
And something amazing happened at this very moment.
Having worked together in close quarters,
hammering out point by point, agreement after agreement,
the group was emotionally bound to each other.
They were family.
They cared for one another.
And they were driven to come up with a law they could all live with and be proud of.
So, with one voice, they said to the labor rep,
“Tell us what you need to get your people to agree
and we will do everything in our power to make it possible.”
It was a powerful moment that each member of the group will remember for the rest of their lives.
The group reached a consensus! On each part of the Act!
That unanimous agreement that Ian Smith had said very plainly nothing less would do!
And Ian Smith did his part. He used his moxie in the legislature. And when any of the members balked, he read them the riot act. “Look very carefully who was represented in this unanimous decision. They represent the majority of the people who vote. Don’t pass this law and come election day, you are all goners.”
On the day the law was to be tabled in the legislature, all the members who had been part of the group that created the law sat beaming in the visitors’ gallery, perhaps one of the proudest days of their lives. The Class Action law was going to be passed.
It was their creation. It was their law!
