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| Rod sermoning on Chapel Island, Camp Kandalore, 1972 (Photo by Wolf Ruck) |
Roderick A. Macdonald
Full Professor
F.R. Scott Professor of Constitutional and Public Law
Updates
Tribute to Professor Roderick A. Macdonald
Video ‘Professor Macdonald’s 2008 Convocation Address’
CBC radio documentary 'The Life and Times of Roderick A. Macdonald'
The Unbounded Level of the Mind: Rod Macdonald's Legal Imagination, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press
Media Links
Globe and Mail - Roderick Macdonald: a mentor to generations of lawyers
Montreal Gazette - Roderick Macdonald had profound impact on Canadian legal community
Canoe.ca - Décès du professor Roderick Macdonald
CTV News Montreal: Roderick Macdonald, Legend of Law, Dies at 65
CBC News Canada: Influential law prof. Roderick Macdonald dies of throat cancer
CBC Ideas with Paul Kennedy: Rod Macdonald - A Just Life
Outgoing CALT president Shauna Van Praagh: Open Doors - Rod Macdonald at the 2014 CALT conference.
Download
Curriculum vitae & list of publications [.doc] (Oct. 2013)
Rod Macdonald awarded the McGill University Medal for Exceptional Academic Achievement (McGill Reporter, May 2014)
Focus online: Looking back at the The Macdonald Symposium (March 2014)
Announcement: Rod Macdonald named an Officer of the Order of Canada (Jan. 2013)
Focus online: A lifetime commitment to legal education (Dec. 2011)
McGill Reporter: Rod Macdonald: A lifetime educating, not indoctrinating (Dec. 2011)
Talking Teaching Profiles: Exploiting Failure
McGill Teaching Snapshots: Roderick Macdonald
Biography
Professor Roderick Macdonald, O.C., taught and published in the areas of civil law, commercial law, administrative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence and access to justice. He was Dean of the Faculty of Law from 1984 to 1989. He chaired a Task Force on Access to Justice of the Ministère de la justice du Québec (1989-91), and has been a consultant to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission (2007-2008), the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1991-1992), to the Ontario Civil Justice Review and to the Federal Department of Justice on the interaction of federal law and the Civil Code of Québec. From 1989 to 1995 he was Director of the Law in Society programme of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and from 1997 to 2000, he was the founding President of the Law Commission of Canada.
Between 2002 and 2004 he was a consultant to the World Bank in Ukraine and drafted that country's current law on secured transactions. In 2003 and 2004 he was a consultant on civil judgement execution with the CIDA-sponsored Legal Reform Project in the Republic of Vietnam. Since 2002 he has been a member of the Canadian delegation to UNCITRAL and is on the team drafting the legislative guide to secured transactions law.
On October 6, 2006, Justice Minister Yvon Marcoux announced the creation of an expert panel to examine if any measures to prevent Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) should be adopted, to be headed by Professor Macdonald.
In April 2007, Professor Macdonald was awarded a Killam Prize, Canada's most distinguished annual award for outstanding career achievement in research. In September 2007, he was honoured with the University of Ottawa Section de droit civil's Ordre du mérite and in November 2007 he received the Sir William Dawson Medal for the Social Sciences by the Royal Society of Canada.
In November 2008, Professor Macdonald was elected the 111th president of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) at its annual general meeting in Ottawa. He is the first law professor ever to have been elected president of the RSC and served from November 2009 to November 2011.
Professor Macdonald received the Canadian Bar Association's (CBA) 2010 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law in recognition of his contributions to the law. In October 2010, he was awarded an LL.D. (honoris causa) by the University of Montreal, and in June 2011 he was awarded an LL.D. (honoris causa) by Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.
In November 2011, Professor Macdonald was named to the Charbonneau Commission, which has been charged with examining allegations of corruption in the construction industry. That same month, during the Fall convocation ceremonies, he received McGill's Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Learning.
In June 2012, the McGill Law Students Association awarded him the 2012 John W. Durnford Teaching Excellence prize.
Professor Macdonald has lectured widely across Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia and has held visiting positions at Osgoode Hall Law School, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, the Australian National University, the University Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, the University of Aix-Marseilles, and the London School of Economics.
In November 2012, Governor General David Johnston announced that the new reading room in Walter House, the Royal Society of Canada's headquarters in Ottawa, would be named the Macdonald Room in Professor Macdonald's honour.
In December 2012, he was named Officer of the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s highest civilian honours, and in February 2013, he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
On May 28, 2014, at Law's Spring Convocation, he was awarded the McGill University Medal for Exceptional Academic Achievement, one of the University’s highest honours.
Honours and Awards
2014 McGill University Medal for Academic Achievement
2013 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
2012 Officer of the Order of Canada
2012 John W. Durnford Teaching Excellence Award, Law Student Assocation of McGill
2012 Médaille Paul-André Crépeau, Canadian Bar Association, Quebec division
2011 LL.D. (Honoris causa), Osgoode Hall
2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Learning, McGill University
2010 LL.D. (Honoris causa), Université de Montréal
2010 Ramon Hnatyshyn Medal, Canadian Bar Association
2009 Elected President, Royal Society of Canada
2007 Ordre du mérite, Faculty of Civil Law, University of Ottawa
2007 Sir William Dawson Medal for the Social Sciences, Royal Society of Canada
2007 Killam Prize for the Social Sciences, Canada Council
2006 Elected Secretary, Academy II, Royal Society of Canada
2004 Elected Associate Member, International Academy of Comparative Law
2004 Elected Member, Insolvency Institute of Canada
2004-07 Fellow, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
1996 Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Canada
Education
LL.M. (Toronto) 1975
LL.L. (Ottawa) 1974
LL.B. (Osgoode Hall) 1972
B.A. (York) 1969
Employment
F.R. Scott Professor of Constitutional and Public Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University 1995-2014
President, Law Commission of Canada 1997-2000
Professor, Faculty of Law, McGill University 1984-1995
Director, Law in Society Programme, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research 1989-1994
Dean of Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University 1984-1989
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, McGill University 1979-1984
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor 1977-1979
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor 1975-1977
Law Society of Upper Canada 1978-2014
Barreau du Quebec, 1983-2014
Areas of Interest
Administrative law, secured transactions, jurisprudence, legal pluralism, access to justice.
Rod Macdonald -- In His Own Words
The Unbounded Level of the Mind: Rod Macdonald's Legal Imagination, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press
Media Links
Globe and Mail - Roderick Macdonald: a mentor to generations of lawyers
Montreal Gazette - Roderick Macdonald had profound impact on Canadian legal community
Canoe.ca - Décès du professor Roderick Macdonald
CTV News Montreal: Roderick Macdonald, Legend of Law, Dies at 65
CBC News Canada: Influential law prof. Roderick Macdonald dies of throat cancer
CBC Ideas with Paul Kennedy: Rod Macdonald - A Just Life
Outgoing CALT president Shauna Van Praagh: Open Doors - Rod Macdonald at the 2014 CALT conference.
Download
Curriculum vitae & list of publications [.doc] (Oct. 2013)
Rod Macdonald awarded the McGill University Medal for Exceptional Academic Achievement (McGill Reporter, May 2014)
Focus online: Looking back at the The Macdonald Symposium (March 2014)
Announcement: Rod Macdonald named an Officer of the Order of Canada (Jan. 2013)
Focus online: A lifetime commitment to legal education (Dec. 2011)
McGill Reporter: Rod Macdonald: A lifetime educating, not indoctrinating (Dec. 2011)
Talking Teaching Profiles: Exploiting Failure
McGill Teaching Snapshots: Roderick Macdonald
Biography
Professor Roderick Macdonald, O.C., taught and published in the areas of civil law, commercial law, administrative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence and access to justice. He was Dean of the Faculty of Law from 1984 to 1989. He chaired a Task Force on Access to Justice of the Ministère de la justice du Québec (1989-91), and has been a consultant to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission (2007-2008), the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1991-1992), to the Ontario Civil Justice Review and to the Federal Department of Justice on the interaction of federal law and the Civil Code of Québec. From 1989 to 1995 he was Director of the Law in Society programme of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and from 1997 to 2000, he was the founding President of the Law Commission of Canada.
Between 2002 and 2004 he was a consultant to the World Bank in Ukraine and drafted that country's current law on secured transactions. In 2003 and 2004 he was a consultant on civil judgement execution with the CIDA-sponsored Legal Reform Project in the Republic of Vietnam. Since 2002 he has been a member of the Canadian delegation to UNCITRAL and is on the team drafting the legislative guide to secured transactions law.
On October 6, 2006, Justice Minister Yvon Marcoux announced the creation of an expert panel to examine if any measures to prevent Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) should be adopted, to be headed by Professor Macdonald.
In April 2007, Professor Macdonald was awarded a Killam Prize, Canada's most distinguished annual award for outstanding career achievement in research. In September 2007, he was honoured with the University of Ottawa Section de droit civil's Ordre du mérite and in November 2007 he received the Sir William Dawson Medal for the Social Sciences by the Royal Society of Canada.
In November 2008, Professor Macdonald was elected the 111th president of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) at its annual general meeting in Ottawa. He is the first law professor ever to have been elected president of the RSC and served from November 2009 to November 2011.
Professor Macdonald received the Canadian Bar Association's (CBA) 2010 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law in recognition of his contributions to the law. In October 2010, he was awarded an LL.D. (honoris causa) by the University of Montreal, and in June 2011 he was awarded an LL.D. (honoris causa) by Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.
In November 2011, Professor Macdonald was named to the Charbonneau Commission, which has been charged with examining allegations of corruption in the construction industry. That same month, during the Fall convocation ceremonies, he received McGill's Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Learning.
In June 2012, the McGill Law Students Association awarded him the 2012 John W. Durnford Teaching Excellence prize.
Professor Macdonald has lectured widely across Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia and has held visiting positions at Osgoode Hall Law School, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, the Australian National University, the University Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, the University of Aix-Marseilles, and the London School of Economics.
In November 2012, Governor General David Johnston announced that the new reading room in Walter House, the Royal Society of Canada's headquarters in Ottawa, would be named the Macdonald Room in Professor Macdonald's honour.
In December 2012, he was named Officer of the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s highest civilian honours, and in February 2013, he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
On May 28, 2014, at Law's Spring Convocation, he was awarded the McGill University Medal for Exceptional Academic Achievement, one of the University’s highest honours.
Honours and Awards
2014 McGill University Medal for Academic Achievement
2013 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
2012 Officer of the Order of Canada
2012 John W. Durnford Teaching Excellence Award, Law Student Assocation of McGill
2012 Médaille Paul-André Crépeau, Canadian Bar Association, Quebec division
2011 LL.D. (Honoris causa), Osgoode Hall
2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Learning, McGill University
2010 LL.D. (Honoris causa), Université de Montréal
2010 Ramon Hnatyshyn Medal, Canadian Bar Association
2009 Elected President, Royal Society of Canada
2007 Ordre du mérite, Faculty of Civil Law, University of Ottawa
2007 Sir William Dawson Medal for the Social Sciences, Royal Society of Canada
2007 Killam Prize for the Social Sciences, Canada Council
2006 Elected Secretary, Academy II, Royal Society of Canada
2004 Elected Associate Member, International Academy of Comparative Law
2004 Elected Member, Insolvency Institute of Canada
2004-07 Fellow, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
1996 Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Canada
Education
LL.M. (Toronto) 1975
LL.L. (Ottawa) 1974
LL.B. (Osgoode Hall) 1972
B.A. (York) 1969
Employment
F.R. Scott Professor of Constitutional and Public Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University 1995-2014
President, Law Commission of Canada 1997-2000
Professor, Faculty of Law, McGill University 1984-1995
Director, Law in Society Programme, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research 1989-1994
Dean of Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University 1984-1989
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, McGill University 1979-1984
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor 1977-1979
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor 1975-1977
Law Society of Upper Canada 1978-2014
Barreau du Quebec, 1983-2014
Areas of Interest
Administrative law, secured transactions, jurisprudence, legal pluralism, access to justice.
Rod Macdonald -- In His Own Words
Quoted from James Raffan's June 13, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteSad news. Safe travels, Rod.
The Far Northland
It's the far northland that's a callin' me away,
as take I with my packsack to the road.
It's the call on me of the forest in the north,
as step I with the sunlight for my load.
Cho: From Lake Agnes, by Louisa, to Kawnipi I will go,
Where you see the loon and hear his plaintive wail,
If you're think'n in your inner heart there's a swagger in my step,
Then you'll know I've been along the border trail.
It's the flash of paddle blades a gleamin' in the sun,
a canoe softly skimming by the shore,
It's the smell of pine and bracken comin' on the breeze
that calls me to the waterways once more.
Quoted from Joanna Alonzo's June 13, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteI remember Rod's favorite poem, the Old Canoe. He read it in tears at final chapter in his last year at camp. Rod led a wonderful life!
The Old Canoe by George Marsh, taken from the WCHA website, http://www.wcha.org/literature/theoldcanoe.html:
The Old Canoe
By George Marsh (Scribner’s Magazine, October 1908)
My seams gape wide so I’m tossed aside
To rot on a lonely shore
While the leaves and mould like a shroud enfold,
For the last of my trails are o’er;
But I float in dreams on Northland streams
That never again I’ll see,
As I lie on the marge of the old portage
With grief for company.
When the sunset gilds the timbered hills
That guard Timagami,
And the moonbeams play on far James Bay
By the brink of the frozen sea,
In phantom guise my Spirit flies
As the dream blades dip and swing
Where the waters flow from the Long Ago
In the spell of the beck’ning spring.
Do the cow-moose call on the Montreal
When the first frost bites the air,
And the mists unfold from the red and gold
That the autumn ridges wear?
When the white falls roar as they did of yore
On the Lady Evelyn,
Do the square-tail leap from the black pools deep
Where the pictured rocks begin?
Oh! the fur-fleets sing on Timiskaming
As the ashen paddles bend,
And the crews carouse at Rupert House
At the sullen winter’s end;
But my days are done where the lean wolves run,
And I ripple no more the path
Where the gray geese race cross the red moon’s face
From the white wind’s Arctic wrath.
Tho’ the death fraught way from the Saguenay
To the storied Nipigon
Once knew me well, now a crumbling shell
I watch the years roll on,
While in memory’s haze I live the days
That forever are gone from me,
As I rot on the marge of the old portage
With grief for company.
Quoted from Geoffrey Blair (Muldoon)'s June 13, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteStruck By Lightning
Being so tall he had, of course,
Been a target of Nature.
The scar from the blow showed beneath
His still fresh wood.
And at this scar's edge, you could see
The rolled bark where he had tried to heal,
To still stand high and brave in the wind.
That same wind that now laid him down
On the forest's floor.
I listened as his dried leaves rustled
With a softer sound.
And the young trees around
Murmured their repeats
Of his big windy voice,
Remembered.
Muldoon, in remembrance of Rod, June 13th, 2014
Quoted form Dean Daniel Jutras' June 13, 2014 message to the McGill Faculty on Rod's passing:
ReplyDeleteFriends, colleagues, students,
I write with the deepest sadness to announce that our friend and colleague Professor Roderick A. Macdonald passed away earlier this morning. I received a note from his wife Shelley Freeman a moment ago, with the following message:
"We are sad to announce that Rod died early this morning. He was sleeping comfortably at home, in the presence of his wife Shelley, and children Madeleine and Aidan. Friends and colleagues will be invited to join the family to share memories and celebrate Rod's life at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made toward research on trismus, or to NOVA or Chez Doris."
Je sais que cette nouvelle vous apporte beaucoup de tristesse et de désarroi. Nous aurons besoin de beaucoup de courage, d'empathie et de solidarité pour accepter ensemble la disparition de celui qui a occupé une si grande place dans nos vies respectives et dans la vie de la faculté. Shelley, Madeleine et Aidan auront aussi besoin de nous dans ce moment très difficile.
Although I am completely overwhelmed with grief, as all of Rod's friends no doubt will be, I take some comfort in the thought that we had many opportunities to honour and to celebrate his extraordinary contributions to McGill, to the community at large, and to each one of us as human beings. Rod knew how much we loved him. Il était très touché, et même un peu embarrassé de toute la gratitude, l'affection et l'admiration que chacun lui manifestait depuis plusieurs mois. Despite the terrible ordeal and pain that he faced over the past few months, Rod continued to engage us intellectually until the end, replying to messages from his many friends, welcoming us in his home for brief visits full of memories, future plans, and challenging ideas.
We are all orphans today.
Daniel
Quoted from Andy Laing's June 13, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteI can still clearly hear his joyful piano, guitar and singing voice in the Dining Hall and at campfires.
Andy
Quoted from Ian Caulfield Smith's June 15, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteWhen I got the news on Friday I was actually out on a paddle with 7 pals on the Grand River, altho no camp buds.
I always have memories of some of you whenever/wherever I dip, and I know you all do too.
We were all at Kandalore at the same time, my sister a kitchen girl, my brother a CIT and me in Prep #2 in '61.
The MacDonald Bros - Styx and 'Rad' - were much in evidence even then.
After Kirk, 'Rad' seemed always the embodiment of all the good things associated with a positive camp experience for all who came.
Travellin' on -
Noonway.
Quoted from Dave Winch's June 15, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteIt is a lovely Sunday here in Montreal, temperate with blue skies. Exactly one month ago, on a similarly lovely Sunday afternoon, I ventured over to visit Rod.
In the year since I returned to Montreal, I had not seen him, even though he lived just 10 blocks away. Each time we made arrangements by e-mail, his medical condition forced it to be cancelled. Then came the long hard winter.
So I prepared for the big day in May carefully, phoning in advance, texting the house, then walking through Westmount steadily to be there at 3 pm exactly.
Shelly greeted me at the door of their home on Windsor St., and soon Rod came carefully down the stairs. We went to the small back balcony, pulled up two chairs with a view of leafy lower Westmount and talked about everything. Politics and international affairs. Country music and Stompin'Tom. Kandalore gossip and old friends. The Canadian elite and growing inequality.
On every subject of course Rod knew five times as much as I did, but since I did most of the talking so he could save his breath, he nodded graciously as if my points were all great news for him. We could have gone on forever.
As we got up to head to the door, we tried to figure how long it had been that we'd seen each other. Several years. Of course the cancer had intervened in the meantime, and I had heard of it far away in Europe. It was an awkward leave-taking, and Rod added frankly that his sickness was "very aggressive". I took my leave and head out into the sunshine.
Walking home slowly, I wondered what Rod meant being so frank in our leave-taking. Now I know: he meant goodbye.
Goodbye, Rod.
Quoted from Alex Fallis' July 22, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteAs always, we learn a few more things that Rod was involved with, and had a positive impact on.
Alex Fallis
Quoted from David Merrifield's July 22, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteRod accomplished so much.
The whole Macdonald clan was always kind to me and Bruce both during camp and after.
Now Rod is with Kirk.
Quoted from Bill James' July 22, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteI remember Rod well.
He was a real leader and someone I looked up to. A big part of why the camp had such a great influence on me.
My daughter's boyfriend is in law at Queens and I have been sending him some of these emails about Rod.
He's inspired reading them.
Quoted from Ian Caulfield Smith's July 23, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteWe Kandalorians are very saddened by the loss of "Rad" but take some solace knowing he is very much amongst us still - the camp connections mentioned in the Globe's piece, the anecdotes and, as described, the 'justice', determination and sense of fair play imbued by Rod - reside and grow within our collective fabric.
Carry on Men !
(As KAWW would have said, adding "Ladies" as appropriate)
Quoted from Ian Caulfield Smith's August 23, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteThe morning mist of a late August rises from the
lakes.
Loons are calling for the early morning paddlers.
Trippers everywhere are rousing their crews at their campsights, making ready the Gumperts.
Last few days of camp. Wake-up Bell sounds.
The Juniors still paraded down for morning skinny dip and toss their moldy wet clothes on in time for the Breakfast Bell and Flag Raising.
Kirk and Rod say a few words about the direction of the wind and assure us that anyone can camp in the sunshine but it takes a Kandalore Camper to camp in the rain. (Wise words to remember this fine wet eastern summer 2014).
A Grace in Sectional Rounds of "For Health And Strength", Rod at piano for the opening note.
Hard boiled egg (one per), half lost to shelling, black crispy bacon (2 pieces per), unlimited toast.
Announcements - it's Chapel Sunday - wear whites.
Back for Morning Watch and Section Director's morning story about Roger Bannister and the like, battling adversity. The Cabin clean-up, and change out of the moldy clothes into the dry dirty gray ones that used to be white. (Almost end of camp who has clean clothes?)
The RC boys hop into Joe Fields' car or Dave Merrifield's Camp Truck for drive to the RC Church in HVILLE.
Chapel procession to the gong of The Bell, cabin by cabin, section by section, over the bridge.
Dave Fallis/Andy Laing serenade with folk songs of the era.
Seated on our logs we are reminded not to stir the soil, it's a fragile eco-system.
Kirk, Walter Barnes, Rod, Pete Anderson, Pat Geale et al lead the Chapel program.
I could go on but you all know where this goes...
Sorry cannot make it but Rod other Camp friends past and passed are all in mind.
Y'day after a paddle and listening to Neil Young Live at Massey 1971 (plays like a soundtrack of a certain summer camp era) I noticed myself wearing the same Tye Dye T-Shirt that I wore to John Thomas' Memorial at UCC in May 2007. Reminds me Rod was integral to that service too -- and tied in so many elements in his MC-ing (including noting that a UCC football coach attending had coached him at his public TO high school).
Happy Travels and Remembrances.
Noonway ...
Quoted from Bruce Grantier's August 23, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteDear Kandalore Friends;
Thanks to all for the great commemorations of Rod, our good friend, a great Kandalore leader, and a great Canadian lawyer - for which, as you no doubt know, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
I have lots of very fond memories of Rod and visited him in his last days several times, gave him books and shared old times.
Had a very nice chat with Styx as well about Rod (Styx and I were part of the Cross-Canada Centenary Canoe Trip in 1967 - paddled across Lake Superior in two Kandalore war canoes.)
As all have said, we will miss Rod a lot and have great admiration for what he has done for so many.
Would just like to add, I made a donation to the Canadian Canoe Museum in his honour - $1000 for a plaque and I asked James Raffan to fill in what to say on it.
James said Rod had made a number of significant contributions to the Museum and would be pleased to write the plaque. If anyone else wants to donate, it is tax deductible.
Quoted from James Raffan's August 23, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteInspired by Shred's example, I matched his thoughtful gesture (in spirit but not quite in amount) hoping that others might follow suit and bring the total donations to the museum in Rod's memory to $5K, which would allow us to mark and remember Rod's life and contribution to the growth and evolution of the museum on the largest black cherry tile on the CCM's handsome memorial wall.
If you're moved to contribute (and I hope you all are) you can donate online at www.canoemuseum.ca or call the museum's development coordinator, Christina Skuce (705) 748-9153 during office hours.
Raff
Quoted from David Winch's August 25, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteMontreal, Aug. 25
Greetings to all this sunny Monday.
Let me be first to say what a great and moving event the Rod Macdonald memorial was on Sunday in Westmount, drawing a broad crowd from all the family, high school, camp and academic/legal spheres of Rod's life.
Kandalore people were front and centre, esp. with the musical trio of Jim Raffan, Larry Biemann and David Fallis on stage throughout to play moving old favourites. Bob Wolfe gave an emotional tribute to Rod and his ability to focus and persevere, even through even 22-km portages!
No one has ever had a memorial service before -- it is safe to bet -- at which the entire assembly, including the Governor General of Canada, stood to sing a Bob Dylan lament (Don't Think Twice, It's All Right).
A large contingent of Kandalore alumni came to town and as one of the few locals I was able to ferry around the above musicians, plus Pat Geale, Dave and Bruce Merrifield, through various crises, including but not limited to a desperate last-minute search for a guitar G string and a race to a departing VIA train.
Later, chez Shelley and Rod on Windsor, we renewed acquaintance with many Nor'Westers, including Craig/Stiks, who revealed his photographic memory for every lake and portage of the 1971 and 1972 Explorer trips, from the tidal flats on James Bay to the lookout man/mayor of Lake Biscotasing to his heavy paddling in an empty canoe with Dave Townley along windy Georgian Bay.
In the living room, it could have been the dining hall all over again as various pianists led us on a rousing trip through the Kandalore songbook; did I actually hear Land of the Silver Birch, or was that too much wine? And David Fallis admitted he was now convinced -- he would vote for George O'Brian to "get Charlie off the MTA".
In short, as merry as could be in the circumstances. Once again, Rod brought us all together .
D.W.
Quoted from David Townley's August 25, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry I was unable to attend, but spent a significant part of the day thinking about the Kandalore days, certainly one of the happiest periods of my life.
Rod deserved the best and our remembrances of him are both real and heartfelt.
Just an incredible human being.
David
Quoted from Ian Caulfiled Smith's August 25, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteAh, The Old Guard - rallied again.
Sounds like a Hoot more than a Memorial ...
Just as well, Rod would want it that way.
Carry on Men.
Quoted from Grant Linney's August 26, 2014 email:
ReplyDeleteRod has been a mentor to more than lawyers.
I just wanted to say that I have now followed Bruce Grantier's fine example and contributed to the Canadian Canoe Museum in Rod's memory and I do hope that others will follow suit.
Among many other substantial contributions to Canadian society and beyond, Rod's talent and passion played an important role in the early building days of the museum.
A donation to the museum in his memory is a fitting way for Kandalore folks to remember him.
Cheers and best wishes,
Grant