Ottawa: Never Too Late - At 80, Mohan Prabhu Awarded Doctorate

Daijiworld Media Network—Ottawa

Ottawa, Jul 2: Mohan Prabhu, a Mangalorean native, who along with his wife Clareen, settled in Canada soon after they were married in 1965 has successfully defended his doctoral thesis before a four-person jury appointed by the University of Ottawa and will be awarded the degree of LL.D. (Doctor of Laws) at the University’s Convocation in October, 2011. 

The title of his thesis is “Efficacy of Administrative Monetary Penalties in Compelling Compliance with Federal Agri-food Statutes”.  The thesis is a follow-up to the work Prabhu did at the Department of Justice in Ottawa where he was instrumental in developing legislation for establishing administratively-imposed monetary penalties as a fair and effective alternative to criminal prosecution and as a supplement to existing measures for enforcing regulatory statutes.

The statute, known as Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act was passed by the Canadian Parliament in 1995 and came into operation in 2000, shortly after he retired from Justice.  This Act has become a precedent for legislation adopted by other departments such as Environment Canada, Transport Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans.  It also influenced UK’s Regulation Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008. 

This is a significant achievement for a person of any age, and is especially gratifying for Prabhu who completed 80 years in January, 2011, perhaps a record for a Mangalorean.
It is his first degree in Canada and comes 51 years after his first degree in Bombay (LLB) and 47 years after his higher degree in London, UK (LLM).  It is also his fifth academic degree, the two earliest ones being in Economics (BA) and Sociology (MA) from the University of Bombay.  In addition to academic degrees, Mohan has been called to the Bars in three countries, India (Maharashtra state), UK (Lincoln’s Inn, London) and Canada (Saskatchewan and Ontario).  Twenty-one years ago Prabhu was appointed Queen’s Counsel of Canada.

Clareen, Prabhu’s wife of 46 years, is a science graduate from Mangalore, and holds a
B Ed from the Madras University.  She earned a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Ottawa, the second of her M Ed the first being from the University of Bombay.  She taught high school for a couple of years in Byculla, Bombay, and primary grades in the Ottawa Catholic School Board schools for 30 years before retiring in 2004.

The couple has a daughter Fiona and two sons, Leighton and Clifton.  All three are professionals and two live in the United States and Leighton in Moscow, Russia.