Former federal cabinet minister Don Johnston moonlights as composer; Minister Kathleen Weil tells McGill News about her journey from the benches of Chancellor Day Hall to the Quebec Parliament; Isabelle Marcoux leads the most important acquisition in TC Transcontinental’s history; Catherine McKenzie publishes her eighth novel entitled The Good Liar.

Former federal cabinet minister Don Johnston’s musical interlude

Bill Brownstein, Montreal Gazette, 13 April 2018

Few people know that one of the most illustrious Canadian politicians of his era is also a musician. When Don Johnston, BCL’58, LLD’03, came across a piece he had composed for a film that was never produced, he revived it, and called it Montreal.

“One hell of a piece of music,” according to his former McGill Law classmate, the late Leonard Cohen.
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A voice for Quebec anglos in government

Brenda Branswell, McGill News, April 2018

Kathleen Weil, BCL’82, LLB’82, answers the question without a millisecond’s hesitation – yes, she’s running again. “I really feel for me this is an opportunity of a lifetime,” says Weil, who plans to seek re-election as the MNA for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce when Quebecers go to the polls on October 1.

The opportunity she’s referring to is her new role as Quebec’s Minister responsible for Relations with English-Speaking Quebecers.
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Isabelle Marcoux et François Olivier, personnalités de la semaine

Marc Tison, La Presse, 8 avril 2018

TC Transcontinental a annoncé le 2 avril la plus importante acquisition de son histoire, celle du transformateur d’emballages souples Coveris Americas, pour 1,3 milliard US.

La Presse s’est entretenue avec Isabelle Marcoux, BCL’95, et François Olivier, présidente du conseil et président-directeur général de TC Transcontinental, nommés personnalités de la semaine.
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Laying Down the Law

Ian McGillis, The Daily Observer, 31 March 2018

“A lot of lawyers are writers.” You get the feeling Catherine McKenzie, BCL’99, LLB’99, has dealt with this question before. Born and raised in Montreal (among her classmates in elementary school was Heather O’Neill), one of three children of college professors, McKenzie has her interest in legal matters piqued in her teens by TV viewings of L.A. Law, and ended up with a law degree from McGill University in 1999.
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Short takes

The Droit Autrement/Legal Alternative (DALA) Student collective has released two new McGill Law alumni interviews :

It was a busy month for Internet lawyer and Cybersecurity & Privacy course lecturer Allen Mendelson, BCL’01, LLB’01, LLM’11. He was interviewed about defense lawyers using Facebook to profile jurors, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and a Quebec artist shocked to find cheap reproductions of her work sold online.

Several IASL alumni made the news this month.