Michel-Bastarache Moot in Language Rights: Best Factum Prize Named in Honour of Pierre Foucher

Published on April 23, 2020

By Common Law

Communication, Faculty of Law

Language rights

Since the fall of 2019, students from law schools across Canada had been preparing for the second edition of the Michel-Bastarache Moot, which was to take place in March 2020 at the University of Ottawa. The 2020 edition would have welcomed participants from law schools from the universities of Saskatchewan, Calgary, Alberta, Manitoba, Moncton, and Ottawa (Civil Law and Common Law sections), as lawyers and judges from across the country who were preparing to take on the role of judge for the mooters. As the competition had to be cancelled in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the organizers decided to recognize the efforts of the students by continuing the evaluation of the factums and awarding the prizes for best factums.

The Prize for Best Factums is Now the “Pierre Foucher Prize”

The Pierre Foucher Prize is awarded to the two teams of the Michel-Bastarache Moot that obtained the two highest total marks for the factums. This prize is named in honour of Professor Pierre Foucher in recognition of his contributions to language rights and his outstanding work in the defence of minority rights throughout his career. Professor Foucher has left a great mark on the evolution of language rights, both in shaping lawyers through his excellent teaching and by his significant contribution to the case law.

The Results :

Congratulations to Samuel Gagnon, Coralie Robert, Martine Rousselle and Shijia Yu from the Université de Moncton team (first place) and to Matthew Benson, Alyssa Marshall, Mackenzie Stewart and Omelia Tedesco-White from the combined team of the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Calgary (second place) who have won the first edition of the Pierre Foucher Prize.

We would also like to thank the lawyers who judged and evaluated the factums, Me Richard Keswick, Me Jean-Simon Schoenholz and Me Sara-Marie Scott.