Ms. Susan Swift

This oral history captures the experiences of two lawyers working for the Ontario Legislative Assembly’s Research and Information Services division, focusing on their role serving legislative committees, particularly the Standing Committee on the Administration of Justice (later renamed Justice and Social Policy). Avrum Fenson and Susan Swift detail their work from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, providing research, witness summaries, and legal analysis to support committee deliberations on government bills.

The interviews reveal the extensive collaborative relationship between legislative research staff and ministry lawyers, particularly from the Ministry of the Attorney General. The lawyers describe their role in preparing comprehensive witness summaries during committee hearings, conducting original research on complex policy issues, and serving as intermediaries between private members and Legislative Counsel for bill drafting. They discuss major legislative initiatives including Sunday Shopping legislation, Alternative Dispute Resolution hearings, and the complex trio of bills comprising the Substitute Decisions Act, Advocacy Act, and Consent to Treatment Act.

The transcript illuminates the intensive workload and time pressures involved in legislative committee work, the evolution of technology in committee processes, and the networking relationships that facilitate information sharing across government. Swift’s secondments to both the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Policy Branch and the Information and Privacy Commission provide additional insight into the broader legal ecosystem within Ontario government during this transformative period of legal reform.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.