‘Originals’ from Class of 1956 turn out for one of biggest Reunion weekends ever
By Lucianna Ciccocioppo
Michael Ignatieff gives the Reunion Lecture
More than 300 alumni attended Reunion at the Faculty of Law on October 28-29, 2011, which kicked off with a lecture by Michael Ignatieff, former leader of the Liberal Party, now based at U of T’s Massey College. Ignatieff, currently teaching a course at the Faculty of Law, gave a talk called “Standing in Law, Standing in Politics” to a large audience in the Bennett Lecture Hall. View the webcast of Michael Ignatieff’s full lecture here.
Ignatieff asked if there are equivalent rules of standing in politics, and argued one needed to “earn” standing, whereas in law, one is “accorded” standing. “Law equalized political standing in theory, but in practice, political parties decide who gets political standing,” said Ignatieff. “Standing is not just a matter of who gets elected by parties, but also who gets heard.”
Ignatieff argued for reforms in the political sphere, such as broadcasters airing a limited amount of free political party advertisements, same for Internet providers, and taking the party debates out of the control of broadcasters.
Ignatieff also raised the thorny issue of class warfare. “Even though it’s unthinkable to deny political standing based on gender, sexual orientation, race, religion….it’s even more salient to deny standing on the basis of class.” He went on to explain a common strategy is to highlight a person is too snobby, too rich, too intelligent – “Don’t worry, I’m not talking about me” he interjected to laughter. And your opponents do this by saying “They are not here for you, they are not like you…They are elitist. But we are just like you.”
And Ignatieff pointed to President Barack Obama, as “one of the most interesting battles of standing occurring in the USA.” In the end, Ignatieff concluded political standing is structural to the business of politics. Said Ignatieff: “Has it got worse? Well, it was always pretty bad.”
Reunion 2011 reception
Following the lecture, a reception was in full swing to kick off Reunion dinners for classes ending in “1” or “6”.
Class of '56 with Dean Moran
A handful of law school “originals” from the Class of 1956 (Prof. Edmund Alexander, Prof. William Angus, Dr. Alan Borovoy, The Hon. Henry N.R. Jackman, The Rev. Donald Landon, Dr. Lionel Schipper, Mr. Robert Shirriff, Mr. C. Stanton Stevenson, and Mr. Allan Sutherland) enjoyed a dinner in the Faculty Lounge, while other classes headed off to restaurants across Toronto to reconnect and catch up with friends.
Enjoy the photo gallery here.
Photos: Jeff Kirk
