On Tuesday, the University of Alberta Faculty of Law is hosting “A Conversation About Access to Justice & Systemic Racism”, a panel discussion featuring Trevor Farrow (professor, Osgoode Hall Law School) and Joshua Sealy Harrington (lawyer, Power Law and doctoral candidate, Columbia Law School), facilitated by University of Alberta Faculty of Law Dean Barbara Billingsley.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments, non-profit organizations, and other justice sector stakeholders in Canada to innovate. As their focus shifts from short term survival to rebuilding for a post-COVID world, how can they best contribute to creating a more just society? Trevor Farrow has carried out ground-breaking research on the costs that society incurs when Canadians cannot access justice. Joshua Sealy-Harrington’s research and practice explores how the justice system systemically marginalizes racialized Canadians. Hear them together in conversation with the University of Alberta Faculty of Law's new dean, Barbara Billingsley, as they discuss what access to justice means, how best to promote it in a post-COVID world, and what role law schools can play in creating a more just society. Read more from the panelists:
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By Julie Matthews (Community Legal Education Ontario) and David Wiseman (uOttawa Faculty of Law)
Once again, Access to Justice Week provides an opportunity for those of us who work in Canada’s justice sector to convene and take a close look at progress that has been made - and where gaps persist - to make justice more accessible to people across the country. This year, our conversations are taking place in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This public health crisis has resulted in the need for many Canadians to stay in their homes, a huge reduction in jobs, and a loss of regular income for many. In turn, this has spurred a host of problems: demands for emergency income support, worries about getting evicted due to non-payment of rent, concerns about being required to return to unsafe workplaces, and fears of domestic violence that are heightened by increased family isolation. A few things jump out when considering these challenging circumstances. First, how interconnected these problems are, how one problem leads to and compounds another. Second, the multi-dimensional nature of the problems - they can be seen as health problems, financial problems, housing problems, and family problems. But, as the law underpins most of them, they can also be viewed as legal problems. A person experiencing one or more of these problems might seek support and assistance from a source that they know and trust, and that they can easily access at this extraordinary time. They might not seek help from a legal professional, particularly when they’re first starting to look for support. Access to Justice Week is taking place from October 26 to 31, 2020 in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia. Organizers will be highlighting the work of justice organizations and pro bono organizations in each province, hosting a series of webinars to educate the public, lawyers and community organizations on how to improve access to justice in their own neighbourhoods.
“In any three-year period nearly half of the people in Canada will have a problem serious enough to require legal assistance,” said Brea Lowenberger, Director of CREATE Justice and organizer of Access to Justice Week in Saskatchewan. “Yet in most provinces, someone working full-time at a minimum-wage job earns too much to qualify for legal aid. Many Canadians face additional obstacles including a lack of fluency in English, physical distance from justice services and distrust of legal institutions. These obstacles have only become greater because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are pleased to have come together across the country for the first time this year to celebrate Access to Justice Week and provide the tools that the legal profession and the public need to address these obstacles.” The week will include national and provincial events. More information about the events taking place in Alberta (or taking place virtually and available to Albertans) are listed on the events page of the A2J Week website. Our blog this year will highlight contributions from individuals and organizations in Alberta exploring how the justice sector responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges highlighted by the pandemic, and potential solutions to improve access to justice across the province. Come join the conversation! |