In two of those cases Polizogopoulos
represented students at Carleton and
Guelph universities where pro-life clubs
were refused official status by their respective student associations. He says it
takes a lot of soul-searching before clients
decide to take legal action in these freedom of speech cases.
“There’s a reason why not many of
these cases end up before the courts,”
he points out. “Not every student is prepared or ready to put their name on the
case. When you’re a 20-something university student, you may be committed
to a cause, but things are on the Internet
forever. Because of what the expression
is, there may be opposition where there
otherwise wouldn’t be.
“I don’t seek these cases out,” says Polizogopoulos. “By the time it gets to me, the
students have already been through a certain amount of public scrutiny. They come
to me because there are only so many lawyers who are prepared to do this kind of
work and do it for free.”
Though there are matters
of public or national interest at
stake, Polizogopoulos notes that
as a lawyer, his ultimate respon-
sibility is to the individuals he is
representing. He spells out the
personal cost to his clients, and
will “pray with them when it’s
appropriate.”
In most religious tolerance
or freedom of speech cases that
go before the Supreme Court of
Canada, there will be multiple
interveners because the judg-
ments will affect their respective
constituents. In a 2012 case chal-
lenging the mandatory nature
of the Government of Quebec’s
school curriculum on ethics and
religious culture (a case Polizo-
gopoulos worked on for the
EFC), there were eight interven-
ers from both sides, including
the Christian Legal Fellowship,
Canadian Catholic School Trust-
ees, and the Canadian Council
of Christian Charities.
PHo To: SHAron BArnES PHo ToGrAPHY ( www.SHAronBArnES.CA)
With only 10 minutes to
present oral arguments and ten
pages to make a solid case in
writing, “you want to make sure
every word you write and every
word you say is valuable,” says
Polizogopoulos. And, with so many voices
in the mix, you don’t want to waste the
court’s time with redundancies. Bringing
something original to the table is an im-
portant element of speaking to the highest
legal authority in the country. “You want
the Supreme Court to be eager to hear
from you because you have something to
say,” he explains. “And the EFC has that
reputation.”
Polizogopoulos sees how cases built
around constitution issues take a per-
sonal toll on individuals – as important
as the cases may be. “I kind of wish we
wouldn’t have to fight these cases,” he la-
ments. “It’s never a happy time when you
have to call me.”
geoffrey trotter recalls, “I learned to think
as a lawyer around the dinner table.”
Go-to Lawyer for the
Pro-Life Movement
When his oldest brother was born, Geof-
frey Trotter’s parents moved the family
from the big city (the west side of Van-
couver, to be exact), to Courtenay, a small
town on Vancouver Island. There his fath-
er set up his civil litigation practice inside
their home on a rural hobby farm, opting
for a little more space and little less pace.
