“The Manitoba government is introducing the international child support and family maintenance (Hague Convention) act that would improve access to justice by providing Manitoba families with additional avenues for establishing, varying and enforcing child and spousal support where one party lives outside Canada”
“The Manitoba government is proposing new legislation as well as amendments to existing acts that would further protect vulnerable children and youth who are at risk of human trafficking and sexual exploitation…
The proposed new legislation, the hospitality sector customer registry act, would improve the ability of law enforcement to investigate suspected instances of human trafficking by requiring hotels and temporary accommodations, including online accommodation platforms, to keep a register of guests, including their names and addresses, and make the registers available to investigators by order or without a warrant on an emergency-demand basis.”
Amends The Child and Family Services Act to broaden the circumstances in which an agency can apply for an order that prohibits a person from contacting or residing with a child.
Amends The Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act to require hotels, online accommodation platforms, drivers of vehicles for hire and other persons to report human trafficking to a police service if they reasonably believe another person is subject to human trafficking.
Bill 237 The Drivers and Vehicles Amendment Act (Poppy Number Plates) – Licence plates depicting a red poppy and the Canadian flag are to be made available to honourably serving or discharged members of the Canadian Forces and to former members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Force.
A new notice from all court levels has been issued stating that “mask use will no longer be required in court facilities effective Monday, May 16, 2022. Masks may continue to be worn, unless requested otherwise by a presiding judge in the context of a hearing.
Unlimited access to the courts by members of the public will resume on Monday, June 27th, at which time there will no longer be any COVID-19 related restrictions in place.”
“It’s been here for 100 years, and it will be here 100 more. Just like the law.” – Martin Jandavs, Facility Manager, Law Courts Building Complex
During his tenure as Facility Manager, Martin Jandavs has seen the Great Library and the Old Law Courts Building through some of its biggest changes. I was initially curious about the period of renovation in the 1980s when Library staff were working from a temporary office in the new Law Courts Building at 408 York. The renovations were extensive and resulted in significant architectural changes to the building.
A view of the Great Library prior to the renovation in the 1980s. The cork floor seen in this picture was replaced with carpet during the renovation. (source: Cameron Harvey – The Law Society of Manitoba 1877-1977)
In the library, the staircase leading up to the second floor was added during the renovation in the 1980s. Prior to this, the spiral staircase on the far side of the Great Library was the only staircase and passed through to the floors below. There used to be two old clocks on either side of the mezzanine overlooking the main floor. When the new staircase was installed the second clock was removed and placed in the attic (accessible through the library archives room), where it remains. The building has been refitted for electrical, plumbing, and computer/technology infrastructure. As Martin said to me, it’s a solid building but it has changed.
By way of example, the Government of Manitoba used to operate its own workshop and renovations department. The department employed in-house plumbers, carpenters, and electricians. The workshop, referred to as the “Vine” location, was located at Vine Street and Whyte Avenue in the Weston neighborhood. When the renovations on the Great Library began in 1985, all of the furniture was labelled and brought to the workshop to be refinished. The labelling system was used to ensure that the furniture returned to its proper location, and the burgundy leather chairs in the library still have their labels.
Martin told me about two Hungarian carpenters, “real craftsmen”, who worked on the big round table in the Great Library. The table wouldn’t fit through the library entrance and so it had to be cut in half to be removed from the building. The two carpenters refurbished it, sanding it down and refinishing the wood. I hadn’t realized that the round top of the table was designed to rotate, a feature preserved by the carpenters.
We talked about the trend towards employing contract labour and the eventual shuttering of the Vine Street workshop. About how the history of a building can be lost when contract work replaces permanent staff. Those craftsmen, who knew these buildings inside and out because they had worked here for 30, 40 years, they were like a living historical record. I told Martin about how I felt similarly about the print documents from the library being replaced by digital documents. It’s easier to lose some of the historical record because of the ephemerality of the digital documents. Martin told me how he used to get out the big technical drawings of the building to use for reference because he preferred them, as opposed to the version on his computer. He is also a fan of the giant 1957 Canadian atlas just inside the front entrance of the library.
I asked him what he thought people would be surprised to know about the building, and he spoke about his staff that keep the building looking so great. Having a dedicated staff working behind the scenes who have specialized knowledge of the building and pay attention to the details are an important part of what makes the building so special. These details we might take for granted – the polish of the custom furniture, the emptying of my trash can every night. And just like the people who keep the building alive, the building animates the people that inhabit it.
In a sense, the Law Courts Building is a living thing. It literally contracts and expands with the weather, it houses all of the constituent parts and people that bring it alive, and has gone through periods of renewal and decay. Similarly, the law is a living thing – it responds to changes in our environment, it expands and evolves, and it also undergoes stages of decay and rebirth. As David R. Johnson says, “The law is an organism rather than a mechanism. It is alive.”
The life of the Great Library and the Law Courts Building is far from over, indeed it may still only be in its youth. My season at the library is coming to a close, but I take the knowledge I gained here with me. In my own small way, I take a piece of the library with me and a piece of its history.
I’m grateful to have been able to come to work here every day and to have gotten to know the building a little bit better. And I’m also now a part of its living history.
April 22, 2022 – Manitoba Government proclaims new Public Service Act “The Manitoba Public Service Commission advises the Manitoba government has proclaimed the Public Service Act (PSA) to replace the Civil Service Act.
…the PSA provides a legislative framework for an ethical and effective public service for Manitoba by setting out fundamental values such as transparency, accountability, integrity and respect for others. It provides a modern and innovative approach to workforce management supported by a code of conduct and an action plan that strengthen the foundation for a dynamic public workforce.” More information can be found here.
May 2, 2022 – Manitoba government enacts accessible information and communication standard regulation “The Accessible Information and Communication Standard Regulation is the third standard under the Accessibility for Manitobans Act. It reduces barriers related to accessing information provided in print, in-person, on websites or in other formats. Standards have been put in place previously for accessible customer services and employment.” Read the full news release here.‘
221 The Apprenticeship and Certification Amendment Act (Apprenticeship Supervision) – The Apprenticeship and Certification Act. Currently, the number of apprentices a journeyperson may supervise is set by regulation. This Bill requires a 1 to 1 supervision ratio for most trades. A trade may continue to have a greater number of apprentices supervised by a journeyperson if a higher ratio is set by regulation for that trade before this Bill takes effect.
229 The Transportation Infrastructure Amendment Act – amends The Transportation Infrastructure Act to add a requirement that the minister establish standards for clearing snow from provincial roads. These standards must meet the minimum requirements set out in a schedule to the Act and must be published.
230 The Budget Impact Reporting Act – establishes The Budget Impact Reporting Act. The Minister of Finance must report on the effects of the government’s budget decisions on economic and social inclusion and greenhouse gas emissions in Manitoba.
232 The Catalytic Converter Identification Act – requires a motor vehicle dealer to mark the vehicle identification number for every vehicle sold by the dealer on that vehicle’s catalytic converter. Amendments to Bill 9, The Scrap Metal Act, require scrap metal dealers who purchase a catalytic converter with a vehicle identification number on it to record that number and provide it to police and Manitoba Public Insurance.
233 The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Amendment Act – amends the Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act with new responsibilities of the registrar, specifies scope of practice licensees, changes to continuing professional development, and appeals.
235 The Public Schools Amendment Act (Nutrition Programs) – amends The Public Schools Act to require the minister to report each year by school division and school district on the schools that provided a nutrition program during the previous fiscal year. The minister must table the report in the Assembly and make it available to the public.
2nd Reading
234 The Drug-Related Death Bereavement Day Act – proclaims the Sunday before Mother’s Day of every year as Drug-Related Death Bereavement Day, a day to reflect on the impact of drugs in Manitoba and to grieve those lost to drugs.
“Rather oddly, the [Law Society] Act does not require, nor even explicitly authorize, the Society to maintain a library. But nevertheless it does so;” (Cameron Harvey – The Law Society of Manitoba 1877-1977)
The story of the Great Library and the Old Law Courts Building is fundamentally a story of change. As the judiciary grew to accommodate the growth of the City and Province, so too did the courthouses. From early log cabin style buildings to the original courthouse on Kennedy Street, finally to the construction of the Old Law Courts Building on Broadway, the early story of the judiciary and its buildings is one of expansion.
“Old Law Courts Building on Kennedy Street built in 1882, replaced in 1893. University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections, Art Work on Winnipeg RBR FC 3396.37.A77, volume 6 page 4.” – retrieved from Heritage Winnipeg site
This was also reflected in the need for a law library to serve the city’s legal practitioners, and in 1871, one of the first actions the newly formed Bar Society took was the establishment of the first library in the Kennedy Street courthouse. As the judiciary expanded, so did the need for library services – regional libraries followed suit in the province and the library continued to grow its collection. That said, frugality has always been a hallmark of the library, and the library’s budget has always been one of the cost-saving areas of the Law Society.
Despite the profession’s acknowledgment of the necessity of a library and its usefulness evidenced by its steady expansion, the library (like today) occupied a paradoxical space, caught between a clear need and being one of the first areas to face budget cuts when times were lean. In 1885, for example, despite a majority of the Benchers being in favor of establishing a downtown library branch in the McIntyre Block, a deficit of $700 in the library budget meant setting aside the plans when it came down to a vote. This trend would continue through the twentieth century.
During the Depression, the library suffered drastic cuts to its purchasing capacity, which continued during the war years when members were no longer contributing fees while they were in service. In 1972 the Law Society commissioned a report that would review the adequacy of the library’s resources. The report found that the library was not meeting the needs of the profession and allocated money to hire a full-time librarian and to improve the collection. Not long after, Garth Niven was hired as Chief Librarian and he saw the library through the next three decades of rapid technological and structural change.
After reading the old annual reports during the building renovations in the 1980s, I wanted to find out more about this next chapter in the Library’s history. Karen insisted that the person I had to speak with was Facility Manager of the Law Courts Complex, Martin Jandavs. Martin had been at the Law Courts Complex during the time of the renovation and would know everything about the changes that the buildings had undergone. Martin graciously agreed to speak with me about the Old Law Courts Building, and he did not disappoint. We sat at one of the original carved wooden tables in the Library, and he told me all about the last 40 years at the Law Courts.
The Manitoba Law Library would like to acknowledge with gratitude that we are situated on Treaty One Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree and Dakota peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.
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