Harry Walsh was a Canadian lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 who practiced criminal law

Criminal law

Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...

 for over 70 years. Walsh was a leading proponent in the abolition of capital punishment in Canada

Capital punishment in Canada

Capital punishment in Canada dates back to 1749. Before Canada eliminated the death penalty for murder on July 14, 1976, 1,481 people were sentenced to death, with 710 executed. Of those executed, 697 were men and 13 were women. The only method used in Canada for capital punishment in nonmilitary...

. In recognition of that role, as well as his advocacy of access to legal representation and work in the Manitoba Jewish

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 community, Walsh was named an Officer of the Order of Canada

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

 on December 31, 2010. However, Walsh died before the investure ceremony that occurred on May 27, 2011. Walsh was still practicing law at the time of his death and he called himself "the oldest working lawyer in Canada".

Career

Walsh was called to the bar

Call to the bar

The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...

 of Manitoba in 1937. He took time from his practice to serve in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 as a lance-bombardier in the Royal Canadian Artillery

Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery

The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery is the artillery personnel branch of the Canadian Forces .-History:...

.

During his legal career, Walsh was one of those responsible for establishing Legal Aid Manitoba in the 1970s. Walsh was also a leading opponent of capital punishment in Canada, serving as the co-chair of a committee advocating for its abolition. During the annual plenary session of the Canadian Bar Association

Canadian Bar Association

The Canadian Bar Association represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada.-History:The Association's first Annual Meeting was held in Montreal in 1896. However, the CBA has been in continuous existence in its present form since 1914...

 held in Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 in August 1975, Walsh succeeded in the passage of a resolution by the CBA supporting the abolition of capital punishment. The following year, the Canadian Parliament

Parliament of Canada

The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

 voted to abolish capital punishment (except for certain military offences, which were abolished in 1998).

Outside of his legal practice, Walsh was a founder of the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba. He died in 2011 at Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

.