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377 Larry Pennell stands beside his friend Syl Apps’s grave in Galt. Larry Pennell L ARRY PENNELL ALWAYS CONDUCTED HIMSELF WITH A QUIET dignity, whether it was operating the Brantford Red Sox, running his law practice, or performing his duties as a federal Member of Parliament. He had definite views, and he would articulate these—they were usually proven to be right—but if others vehemently disagreed, Pennell wouldn’t argue. Rather, he’d state his case with persistence and conviction. If, in the end, they were still at loggerheads, he’d walk away. It was part of a lifelong philosophy handed down from his father. “I’ve always believed in it,” he said. When he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1968, he changed little. “That philosophy fit with my life as a lawyer and a judge,” he said. Most of all, he would treat others with respect and dignity. Sometimes the other party was argumentative, or perhaps belittling, but Pennell would never fall to that level. “I just don’t believe in it,” he said. “Others can abuse me all they like but I won’t do it. I never saw my father get in an argument in his life.” His father was his role model. That’s not to say he hasn’t gotten mad, or made others angry, but he would refrain from quarrelling. “If you can’t reason with someone you’re not going to change his mind.” He discovered early that if he treated people with respect, no matter how much abuse they heaped on him, they would eventually realize that they were letting anger get to them and they would apologize. By treating others with respect, they would come to respect him. Then a worthwhile discussion might ensue. It was a philosophy he used in Ottawa with great success. Rather than argue, he would reason. “I’ve reasoned with people, not always successfully,” he admitted. As part of Lester Pearson’s cabinet in the early 1960s he was both respected and well-liked, and, as Peter C. Newman described in his 1968 political classic, The Distemper of Our Times, he was part of the new, progressive guard of the Liberal Party. Pennell continued his activity in Intercounty baseball for several more years after that 1949 season, and was also active on the Brantford hockey scene during the winters. He entered federal politics in 1962— “Some people convinced me to run federally and, through no fault of my own, I was elected”—and went to Ottawa, taking a drastic pay cut. His legal practice earned him $26,000 per year in 1962; as a Member of Parliament he had to live on $10,000. “It was hard going,” he recalled many years later. “I had a family at home and I had to keep an apartment in Ottawa.” But he had no complaints, nor would he do anything differently if he had to do it over. Weekends he would return to Brantford by train, then make the trip back to Ottawa Sunday evening. He was re-elected twice more—in ’63 and ’65—and served for eighteen months as both solicitor general and, when Justice Minister Lucien Cardin became ill, as attorney general. As solicitor general, Pennell was the first such minister in Canada to be given full ministerial status. Prior to his arrival, there had been solicitor generals without a full portfolio. But for Pennell, the role was in keeping with the hallmark of his life, which was the law. “The law,” he said, “was the voyage of my life.” Indeed, he had represented more than six hundred clients for free during his practice. His father had often repeated an old Welsh saying, “There comes a time for you to make your soul,” and Larry took the words to heart. The law always gave a purpose to his life, and he forever believed that everybody ought to have representation of a lawyer in court. “Your freedom , your rights, are worth no more than your lawyer can win for you,” he reasoned. “Otherwise, all the rights and freedoms are just words written on paper.” He was destined for a life in law at an early age. At fourteen, he accompanied his father when his dad had been called for jury duty. “I knew then that I wanted to be a lawyer,” he recalled. Years later he was to article for the same lawyer he saw in action that day...

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