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Civil liberties lawyer dies

W.Glen Howe

W. Glen Howe, a Georgetown trial lawyer who was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2000 and over his more than 60-year career argued for basic civil liberties in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia, died Tuesday (Dec. 30). He was 89.
Howe, of W. Glen Howe & Associates, located at the Jehovah’s Witnesses Watch Tower complex on Hwy. 7, was one of Canada’s most recognized lawyers for courageous advocacy. Howe lived at the Watch Tower property for a number of years.
When Howe was appointed to the Order of Canada the Governor General stated, “the landmark cases he argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of Jehovah’s Witnesses enshrined all Canadians’ right to freedom of speech, assembly and religious expression and helped pave the way for the Canadian Bill of Rights and Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
Howe was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1943. Two years earlier he had become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

According to the American College of Trial Lawyers, at that time it was against the law in Canada to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.Howe began advocating on their behalf to restore religious freedom that had been lost during the Second World War.

During the 1940s and 1950s Howe defended cases in Quebec where Premier Maurice Duplessis had declared a “war without mercy” against Jehovah’s Witnesses.
A series of the cases reached the Supreme Court of Canada. These decisions ultimately led Canada to adopt the Bill of Rights in 1960 and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982.
Howe also argued cases for the rights of parents to share their religious beliefs with their children. He also argued cases on behalf of a patient’s right to bodily autonomy. The landmark decision of Malette v Shulman (1990) confirmed an adult patient’s right to have his or her advance treatment decisions respected. Howe was awarded the Law Society of Upper Canada Medal of Outstanding Service in 1998.
In 1999 he received the Certificate of Recognition of 50 years admittance to the Quebec Bar.

Until recently Howe continued to spend time each week at his office in Georgetown.

“Throughout the course of his long career, (Howe) demonstrated courage and commitment as a trial lawyer, as an appellate lawyer, and as a human being,” stated the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1997.
Howe is survived by his wife Linda, also a lawyer, his brother John Howe, and his stepson Paul Biegel. He is the only Canadian to have received the distinguished Award for Courageous Advocacy from the American College of Trial Lawyers.

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