Cornwall Standard Freeholder
05 November 2007
Posted By Elisabeth Johns
Anything and everything was fair game as Crown attorney Murray MacDonald was roasted by fellow colleagues and friends Saturday night.
“Murray is Murray because he diligently follows the Canada Food Guide,” began Guy Simard, an assistant Crown attorney in Cornwall. “A Riley’s lunch for Murray consists of a sandwich, a vegetable plate and four cookies.
“He begins eating with the cookies, he eats the sandwich and then puts the vegetables in the fridge,” Simard concluded, to peals of laughter.
His roasters, who consisted of fellow Crown attorneys and his sister among others, poked fun at his unco-ordinated fashion sense, his love of the Montreal Canadiens and hunting, his thriftiness and even his car collection.
The evening began around 7 p.m. as MacDonald walked into the room with his wife and children behind two bagpipers.
MacDonald’s sister was the first to roast him, reciting tales from their childhood.
As assistant Crown Attorney Dan Brisebois got up to poke fun at MacDonald, he pointed out – what, with being a lawyer and all – he wanted the transcript record of the evening to reflect the positive things he had to say about his boss.
“His integrity is never questioned,” Brisebois said jokingly, as a slideshow photo of former U.S. President Richard Nixon – the only president in that nation’s history to resign following the Watergate scandal.
The 49-year-old MacDonald, a Cornwall native who is celebrating 15 years as a Crown attorney, was in good spirits throughout the night, laughing, and at times, throwing a towel over his head, perhaps in embarrassment.
He took a bit more active role in his own roast as he seemed to have more costume changes than at a Britney Spears’ concert.
He first appeared in a tuxedo, returned in full hunting regalia, complete with his dog, then came back wearing – perhaps what was the most disconcerting outfit of the night: red leather pants, a low-cut leopard print top and what looked like a woman’s wig.
In a third change, he returned to the room wearing a Montreal Canadiens tracksuit – with leather hat and flag, of course – until he finally ended in the respectable tuxedo again.
Despite a crowd full of lawyers, few lawyer jokes were cracked by the roasters – although the ones that were received big rounds of applause.
Laurencrest executive director Wayne Kyte, during his roast, did make note of the manner in which lawyers act in Cornwall court.
Admitting he wasn’t sure of how to formulate his toast, Kyte said: “I would request at this time the matter be put over to a later date,” using a frequent remand request that received chortles from the audience.
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