Please note that the titles and descriptions that accompany each Trailblazers photograph are dated to the launch of the exhibit, March 2006, and will not be updated.
"It is inexcusable that we don't have the 'right to die' in this country. People who are in the last stages of a terminal illness and who are not clinically depressed should be able to die a painless, peaceful death at the time of their choosing with the help of their doctors. Anything less is inhumane and cruel."
Patricia Julia Myhal '72 (1944 - 1996)
First woman corporate lawyer, and first woman corporate partner, Torys LLP
Friends and colleagues of Patricia Julia Myhal remember her as exceptionally intelligent and articulate with rigorous standards for both herself and others. Yet beneath her sometimes intimidating professional persona they also recall a woman with great warmth and a wonderful sense of humour. A well-respected "lawyer's lawyer," Pat would draw upon her inner strength and "take charge" attitude in her own struggle to give legal voice to the "right-to-die" movement in Canada. Diagnosed with cancer at age 48, Pat spent the next five years advocating for the right to die a humane and peaceful death at the time of her own choosing. Hired as the first woman corporate lawyer at Torys, and later elevated to its first female corporate partner, she accomplished this while maintaining her passion for travel, art, music, fashion and writing. As one of her many lasting legacies at the firm, Pat developed corporate law precedents that form the basis of nearly all major corporate transactions at Torys today. She was - in a word - unforgettable.
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