Page 12 - CCCA Magazine Summer 2015

{ ProFiLe }
“

Pentney never imagined the path he’d a key learning is to just be yourself but
follow in public service. A “skinny little always refect on the impact of your
kid” who grew up in mining towns carved behaviour on others, and whether it
out of Northern Ontario’s wilderness, he
was a talkative sort, argumentative, he has the effect you want.
laughs, and prone to assert his views. Be-
coming a lawyer seemed a natural ft. ”
The fourth of six children, Pentney’s par-
ents and siblings were his biggest infuences
growing up. The family, always outdoors, “I’d never planned to leave teaching. olsky at Ottawa U. He showed me what true
camped or explored the bush that was liter- The commission was a chance to see law public service looked like—the joy and the
ally outside their back door. None of the kids, from the other side of the street. We were sacrifce of it, and the difference one can
to their parents’ delight, became miners. involved in really interesting legal issues make in the type of Canada we live in.”
Instead, Pentney attended Queen’s and policy issues, including some large A key learning, he says, is to just be
University and earned a BA in history and cases against the federal government.” yourself but always refect on the impact
political science. There he met Maureen, In 1999, Pentney moved to the De- of your behaviour on others, and whether
his future wife, and when she landed a partment of Justice. A pattern unfolded. it has the effect you want. It’s helped him
teaching job in Ottawa he followed, earn- He gained perspective and an under- manage days—“there are many”—when
ing his law degree and Masters in public standing of the machinery of govern- stress and adrenaline levels peak.
law at the University of Ottawa. ment by accepting different DOJ post- “My strength, I think, is being able to
He went straight into teaching full time ings, plus stints at the Department of remain calm. Breaking things down and
at the university, mainly researching and National Defence and the Privy Council, analyzing them as logically as I can, from
writing about human rights law, discrimi- “the heart of government.” as many angles as possible, realizing there
nation and equality rights. Six years later, in Throughout, he watched top performers are many perspectives on issues. The log-
1989, he joined the public service at the Ca- and how they behaved. “I have had the very ic, the ability to make sense of it, has been
nadian Human Rights Commission. A one- good fortune to be mentored by truly amaz- hugely helpful to me.”
year exchange program, it lasted nearly 10. ing Canadians, starting with Walter Tarnop- He’s also surrounded by talented
staff—and an institutional structure that
originated in 1867—which lets him sleep
W.A. Derry Millar well. In his downtime, he runs, tries to
read something daily that isn’t about the
law and relaxes at the family cottage, even
Derry has over 40 years of legal and if he takes work there. Spending time with
neutral experience. His expertise Maureen and his two daughters, both law-
includes commercial, aviation, yers, is his favourite pastime. “They’re my
estates, environmental, insurance, ‘team’,” he says, “who have given up a lot
to support my service to Canada.”
product liability, intellectual property Perhaps the only typical part of his
and real estate matters. workday is that it begins at 6:45 a.m. when
his car service picks him up. Checking
email, reading briefs and listening to the
CHOOSE FROM CANADA’S TOP news gives him a heads up on the hat or
hats he’ll wear that day.
MEDIATORS AND ARBITRATORS “Maybe the most interesting part of the
1.800.856.5154 | adrchambers.com job is that an issue can emerge out of the
blue and I get to work with a group of law-
yers who have been thinking deeply on it
for a long time,” he says. “They are some of
Peter G. Cathcart, Q.C. the country’s leading experts on the issue
and you learn about something you knew
nothing about. And then you get back to
Peter specializes in commercial / your offce and something else has come
corporate contracts, shareholder and up and you’re into some completely dif-
franchise disputes, final offers under ferent area. It’s the range and scope of the
issues, things that affect our country, that
the Canada Transportation Act and make my days exciting.” ❚
Marketing Board Legislation, maritime
contracts and transportation matters.
Michael Dempster is a writer based in Calgary.
12 CCCA MAGAzinE | SuMMEr 2015 été