"When Terry told me that he was to receive this degree and that it would be conferred in London by the Queen Mother, he seemed incredulous that I would expect that he would travel to England for the event," recalls Connie Munro, "[Terry said] 'It is not required. They will mail it to me.'"
Terence George Ison was born in Hertfordshire, England in 1934 and immigrated to Canada by way of Harvard, where he obtained his LL.M. in 1959. He began his practice at Lawson Lundell but soon returned to academia and rights advocacy. He was one of the founders of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association in 1962.
Mr. Ison started his long teaching career as a lecturer then assistant professor of law at the University of British Columbia. Over the next 30 years, he would teach as a professor at Queen's University and Osgood Hall Law School, as well as fulfill appointments as a visiting professor at Universities in Bristol, Wellington, Stockholm, Oxford, and Tokyo. He published extensively, enough so that the University of London awarded him an LL.D. on merit in 1981.
Terence Ison had a reputation as "the country's leading exper on workers compensation," and the province was fortunate to have his service as chair of the Workers' Compensation Board from 1973 to 1976. In this position, he improved the WCB's decision making process by requiring written reasons for adjudicators conclusions, and implemented significant changes for enforcing workplace health and safety. He is also responsible for initiating the program within the organization for lawyers practicing at the WCB to take on articling students.
Terry enjoyed sailing and spent his final years on Salt Spring Island. He passed away in 2015.