Preface

• Author: C. Ian Kyer
• Pages: 11-14

xi

Preface

L   on the origins of the Toronto Transit Commis-

sion,1 this book began with a request from Robert Fraser that

I write an entry for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography

(DCB). Robert asked if I would write a short biography of Aemilius

Jarvis. He has often looked to me for the biographies of lawyers or

businesspeople, and in the case of Jarvis, he was seeking a biography

of a businessman who had become embroiled in a legal proceeding.

He said that he was particularly interested in how I would handle the

Ontario Bond Scandal. I knew of Aemilius Jarvis but almost nothing

of that scandal. I associated Aemilius Jarvis with two people I had

known and admired: Kenneth Jarvis and Roger Wilson.

I assumed incorrectly that Ken Jarvis was a relative of Aemilius. I

had met Ken when I was doing research at Osgoode Hall for my book

on Caesar Wright and legal education in Ontario.2 He was then sec-

retary of the Law Society of Upper Canada.3 When I explained that I

wanted to tell the story of how Wright had transformed legal educa-

tion in Ontario, Ken was kind enough to set me up in a boardroom

and arrange for me to have access to the relevant Law Society f‌iles.

I worked on those f‌iles for several weeks. One interaction with Ken

stands out in my memory. I had gone down to the locked room in the

basement of Osgoode Hall, where the f‌iles were kept. I noticed a large,