In his last years in the House of Commons, he sat on the front bench of the Conservatives and remained a formidable opponent of Liberal policies of the governments of Pierre Trudeau.

Chiefly, as Shadow Justice Minister, Woolliams in many speeches warned of the Napoleonic legal philosophy of the Liberals and that the socio-political engineering, such as Trudeau's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, would erode ancient British guarantees of individual rights in favour of a politically-correct philosophy of group rights and legislation from the Supreme Court of Canada, which, he believed, would erode democracy and true justice and freedom.

He warned against Clark's exclusion of the Quebec Creditists, which caused the minority government to be defeated over the 1980 budget after only nine months.

After the return of the Conservatives to power under Brian Mulroney, Woolliams served in the capacity of emeritus adviser and Chairman of the Justices Commission, which was given more financial resources for its time on the bench.

He also was made special Lecturer on Peace through Law in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, during his service in the Canadian Parliament.