Puppy love to power couple

Before life in the public eye, politico found love at the Supreme Court

Michael and Susan today

MICHAEL BRYANT AND Susan Abramovitch found love when they were both young law clerks (and when they were supposed to be working). Now, they’re parents; she’s a partner at Gowlings; and Mayor David Miller just appointed him CEO of Invest Toronto. In other words, they’re the definition of “power couple.” Their story:

How they met

We met at the Supreme Court of Canada in September 1992, where we were both clerking for two great Justices. (Clerks are law graduates that work at a court, for a judge, in lieu of articling at a law firm). Of the 27 clerks from across Canada at the Supreme Court that year, eight of us ended up getting married or permanently hitched; all met at that court. La court d’amour! I somehow mangled Susan’s last name in our first conversation. This was perhaps because I was in the midst of a love-at-first-sight-I’m-gonnamarry- her epiphany upon seeing her. She only remembers that I mangled her last name. The first date In November of that year, Susan had me over for dinner at her Ottawa apartment. I remember the meal as Thai — that’s not her recollection, but it doesn’t matter as the rest is history.

What happened?

Not much. She was being sociable with a co-worker with whom she socialized, along with a large gaggle of the clerks. She hadn’t experienced the same epiphany I’d had and continued to spend most of her weekends in Montreal while I was in Ottawa. The Victoria WASP (me) and Montreal Jew (Susan) came from pretty different worlds, so we just started to get to know each other.

The courtship

By January, we were becoming a couple. We’d go out to Hull and Ottawa cafés and restaurants. At work, we’d have les rendezvouses in the cavernous passages, halls and hidden rooms at the Supreme Court Building. One day, I found out from the RCMP commanding officer at the court that some of our courtship was captured on hidden security cameras. Oops. After that, we lived in different cities for two years (New York and Boston, Paris and London) before coming together in Toronto. We lived near Queen and Spadina, at first, where Susan was working at a b o u t i q u e entertainment law firm, and I was at a large litigation firm.

The proposal

In December 1996, we were in Victoria where my parents still live. I proposed on the beach at Saxe Point Park. The park had been founded by my grandfather, who had transformed the area, originally a garbage dump, into a gorgeous, oceanfront park. But, yes, I proposed to Susan in a former garbage dump.

The honeymoon

We honeymooned in Maui. Months before, I was at work, up late, waiting for a document to be printed and bound, standing alongside a younger lawyer at the firm McCarthy Tetrault. I was staring at a picture of the tropics at the time and turned to my colleague to say, as a joke: “Don’t suppose you have a beachfront acre in Maui you can offer up for my honeymoon, do you?” The answer was, “Yes.”

“ Yes, I proposed to Susan in a former garbage dump.”

Their lives today

Susan is an entertainment lawyer at Gowlings. (I would describe her as “one of Canada’s leading entertainment lawyers.” She would describe me as … “married to Susan!”) I was recently named CEO of Invest Toronto, an arm’s-length corporation created by Mayor David Miller to boost Toronto. Before accepting this post, I was the member of provincial parliament for St. Paul’s (since 1999), and a cabinet minister in Dalton McGuinty’s government since 2003.

Together, we love to canoe; walk on a beach; go to movies, plays, performances; travel (with and without kids); and cook. We love spending time with the kids at a Kawartha Lakes cottage.

We have a reunion coming up for Supreme Court clerks. It’s still la court d’amour for the many couples who met there. This time, we’ll steer clear of the security cameras. Puppy love to power couple Before life in the ublic eye, politico found love at the Supreme Court

Every couple has a story to share. If you would like to share yours, please contact the editor at 416-250-7979, ext. 222, or news@postcitymagazines.com.

This article appears in the July 2009 issue of Post City Magazines

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