Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 13, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba A paper factory swamped probe court despite his fun Loving Side Somalia counsel Hymie Weinstein Means business in the courtroom by Bill Redekop staff reporter do you need time to pay the Fine a judge asked in the conviction of a Man running a Bawdy House in 1990. A could we have 30 nights a quipped defence lawyer Hymie Weinstein. Its indicative of Weinsteinn a famous Humour normally kept under wraps in the staid courtroom Milieu. A when you re a jewish kid in a Small town Melville Saski found a and this came from my parents in a a people person a i found a sense of Humour helps. I done to appreciate people who take themselves too seriously and have huge egos Quot he says. Which Isnit to say that Weinstein 55, is More famous for his wit than his Legal abilities. He received his highest tribute a few years ago when he was asked to be one of three lawyers to head the Somalia inquiry. A it was the Best five months of my Legal career because you re looking into a whole other world a he says of the inquiry. Weinstein discovered the world of the military is one Long paper Trail with All manner of detail put to memo and then encrypted in military style shorthand. A they have More abbreviations and acronyms. I had a Book an Inch thick just on military abbreviations and acronyms a he says. Weinstein had to Cut Short his inquiry stint because of a prior commitment to represent paediatric cardiac anaesthetists in the inquest into children a deaths at the health sciences Centre from 1981-94. He has been thrust into another world a that of doctors nurses and infant surgeries. He has entered other worlds As Well including the Domain of police officers and informants when he represented police officer Daryl Evans on 33 charges based on accusations made by a paid informer. The trial lasted Over four months. Evans was finally cleared of every charge but one making a false statement under oath to acquire a search warrant for a store where stolen cigarettes were later found. Other police officers have hired Weinstein to represent them and he lectures two to three times a year at the Winnipeg police Academy. And when hockey players Shayne Corson Mike Keane and Brian Skrudland got into fisticuffs outside a Winnipeg nightclub or when Sheldon Kennedy faced a marijuana Possession charge or when Dallas Star Todd Harvey recently had a sexual assault charge levelled against him which was subsequently dropped Weinstein represented them and was offered a glimpse into the world of professional athletes. A a you re looking into a person with a whole different life and with different consequences a he business despite his obvious fun Loving Side lawyers say Weinstein Means business in a courtroom. A when he gets in a Cross examination in court in be seen him just take people apart. Its really something to see a says colleague Mary Kate Harvie. Not bad for someone with a name that caused him some awkwardness growing up Hymie. A a in a used to the Odd person saying a no what a your real name a that a it. Hymie is the entire name. Its not Slang and its not abbreviated. Its a derivative of the hebrew name Chaim by am meaning a Toast to he grew up in Melville where his father and Uncle owned a poultry processing Plant and a couple of hotels in Swift current and Loose jaw. His name resulted in some schoolyard taunts but it was water off a ducks Back to the Young Weinstein. A my parents always drilled into me the importance of getting along with people especially people not of the same religion or background Quot he says. The family moved to Winnipeg when he was 15 so the children could be near a University. That plan blew up when Weinstein failed first year University a twice. A i was immature i was Lazy and i done to think i was motivated because i did no to know i wanted to do a particular in the late 1950s, it meant he attend another University in Canada. In desperation he lied to get into Moorhead state College in Minnesota now Moorhead state a i d never run into so Many people who asked me a what kind of name is Hymie a i was a bit of an oddity coming to a school in Moorhead. I lived with classmates who a never met a jewish person he is also conspicuously tall. A i was 6-5 but my tailor tells me in a closer to 6-4 now. Its something that happens after you turn 50,�?� he says. Twenty years ago he still had to drive to the United states to buy size 15 shoes. He excelled during his first two years at Moorhead before deciding he wanted to be a lawyer. Near the end he confessed to lying to the Moorhead president. A i wanted to leave with a clean he returned to Manitoba but the assistant Dean of Law Only reluctantly let him into Law school. He was Given repeater status meaning he was out if he failed a single exam. Weinstein shone in Law school making the Deans honour list in 1963 and sharing in the Harry Walsh criminal Law award. He was a Crown prosecutor for four years before being lured to a private practice with what is today Myers Weinberg Kussin Weinstein Bryk. A ifs strange because this is a very competitive profession but Hymie is liked by everyone a says Friend and lawyer Richard Wolson. A you can to go anywhere where Hymiel a not stopped by a number of people from various walks of life with whom he a Wolson says Weinsteinn a friendliness is genuine. A when you like people the Way he does they tend to like the same manner extends to clients seeking help Many of them facing charges for some very serious or unsavoury acts. Quot it does no to matter who he a in a room with he a the same with everybody. It does no to matter who his clients Are a says Harvie. A few years ago Weinstein was doing restaurant reviews on cog radio every Friday at 5 15 . It started As a Lark when a cog producer phoned him and asked him to talk about the cancelling of the Abc to program Street Legal. Weinstein rarely saw the show and declined but the conversation drifted to one of his Favourite subjects food. Soon the cog was offering him up As its restaurant reviewer. Weinstein would go out once a week with at least two colleagues and return with the consensus. He and wife Shaaron have a son Josh who followed dad into Law and was recently hired by the same firm. His daughter Tannis lives in Israel. Quot i always thought she was going to be an academic or a dictator of a country and not a benevolent dictator a he jokes. She is working with a Large and Agency there handling a $5-Millioi sprint Intel account. V by Bill Redekop staff reporter after two years and $25 million the Somalia inquiry barely started investigating Canadian troop deployment in Somalia. The inquiry was set up to investigate the shooting death of a somali Man by the Canadian forces. But the commission spent two years and two months studying pre deployment conditions within the Canadian forces such As training and discipline. Critics said at the rate the inquiry was going it might have taken two More years to examine what happened in Somalia and whether there was a coverup. In january the Federal government refused a fourth deadline Extension and the inquiry a half Complete report was released this month. Runaway inquiries Are becoming the newest phenomenon on the political landscape. Deadlines Are rendered meaningless As commissioners repeatedly ignore them. Polls show Many people believe inquiries need to be restricted to a reasonable Tim Frame. Hymie Weinstein one of three senior counsel for the Somalia inquiry says the inquiry stretched on for a variety of reasons including a mandate that was too Broad for Loo Short a time period. The initial Tim Frame was just nine months with a deadline of dec. 22, 1995. The scope of the inquiry was to cover both pre deployment conditions and Post deployment. Immediately commissioners realized there was More documentation than they had been led to believe. The military originally told them there were 7,000 documents related to Somalia. It turned out there were More than 650,000 documents amounting to Over a million pages. These Are logs minutes and memos kept by the military of interest to the Somalia inquiry. A a that a one of the things that absolutely astounded me. I did no to realize the military operates such a paper factory. That took up so much More time a says Weinstein. Weinstein adds the inquiry was also slowed Down because too Many parties were Given full standing. Sixteen parties had full standing allowing their lawyers to Cross examine witnesses. A at any one time there were at least a dozen lawyers sitting in that room representing clients a says Weinstein. A one route to go is not to give As Many parties standing. The bad news is there would probably be court challenges if a party was denied the inquiry itself was run by three senior lawyers including Weinstein and seven intermediary and Junior lawyers. As Well the department of National defence was slow turning Over documents and at other times downright uncooperative. Documents came to the inquiry in bits and pieces were often incomplete and some had been altered. The inquiry took a six month time out to find out Why documents were so slow in coming and Why some were altered. Frances Abele a professor in the school of Public administration at Carleton University said inquiries Are moving towards determining the facts about a supposed crime and that a where lawyers become involved. A when you move that close to judicial process and the possibility someone might be charged with something then it becomes very legalized and makes it harder for the Public to participate in that any reforms must look at when witnesses can and can to have counsel she said ;