It was just after 7:30 a.m. this morning when I arrived at the west end of the Parliamentary Precinct. This is the end of that few square blocks around Parliament Hill where you find the national archives, the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Supreme Court building, set well back from Wellington Street, is normally a quiet place but not today. BCE Inc., the country's largest telecom company, is fighting with its bondholders to sell itself to a group led by Ontario's retired teachers. This morning, their battlefield is the main courtroom at the Supreme Court and a few hundred are all lined up outside the court to watch.
The courthouse doors opened at 8:15 a.m. and the 200 or so lined up outside began moving through security.
Most of those in line were white men, well-groomed, wearing expensive-looking suits and ties. I asked a few in line who they were and why they were here. Sure enough, they were lawyers. Some readily conceded that fact while others had to be gently prodded into that admission saying they had been instructed not speak to the press and so, could not say more. Some of the lawyers watching were representing groups of shareholders (they want BCE to win) or bondholders (they want BCE to lose).
The lawyers actually arguing the case — and there's an army of those — come in a separate entrance through another lineup and security screener.
One fellow in our line, though, was in jeans and carried a bike helmet into the court. In his late 50s, he was an actual BCE shareholder and he thought he'd come to see what was going on. He'll make a lot of money if BCE wins. The shares were trading yesterday at about $33 and if BCE wins, the Teachers will buy him out for $42.75 a share. “Plus,” he said, “I've lived in Ottawa for 30 years and I've never been to the Supreme Court!”