The Hutchens Blog

As a long time champion for people living with disabilities, the Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, will speak on his theme of accessibility as that which enables people to achieve their full potential, at a special reception at the Law Society on May 25.

Held annually to celebrate National Access Awareness Week, the event honours outstanding community achievements and celebrates advancements in the rights of people living with disabilities. The evening reception is being hosted by the Law Society and ARCH Disability Law Centre, following an afternoon symposium focusing on a barrier-free justice system for people living with disabilities.

His Honour, a former television news anchor, has long been active in the disability community. He has chaired the government of Ontario’s Accessibility Standards Advisory Council and has served on numerous other committees and councils dealing with disability and accessibility issues.

The May 25 reception is part of the Law Society’s Public Education Equality Series, designed to encourage the exchange of information, ideas and action on issues affecting Aboriginal, Francophone and equality-seeking communities.

Admission to the reception is free. An RSVP is required. Call 416-947-3413, or send an e-mail to: rticzon@lsuc.on.ca.

Event Details
Location: Law Society of Upper Canada, Osgoode Hall
130 Queen Street West, Toronto
(Enter via east doors adjacent to Nathan Phillips Square)
Reception Time: 6 to 8 p.m., Convocation Hall

A panel of distinguished experts in human rights, foreign policy and international law will talk about “reconciling state sovereignty with the global responsibility to protect,” at a forum taking place at the Law Society on April 6, 2009, says Sandy Hutchens.
The event is being held by the Law Society and its Human Right Monitoring Group, and is the first in its Rule of Law Education Series. Event partners are Amnesty International Canada, Canadian Lawyers Abroad, Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada.
Panellists will look at the political, legal and moral questions of humanitarian intervention – when it is appropriate for states to take action against another state to protect people from catastrophe, genocide and crimes against humanity. They will also look at the “The Responsibility to Protect” doctrine produced by the International Commission on International and State Sovereignty, and discuss how it applies to contemporary cases. Panel members include:

• Georgette Gagnon, Executive Director, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch
• The Honourable Harry S. Laforme – Judge, Court of Appeal for Ontario
• Pacifique Manirakiza – Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
• The Honourable Bob Rae – Member of Parliament, Former Premier of Ontario

The panel discussion will be moderated by Sharmini Peries, a journalist with the Real News Network. Following the forum, a reception will be held featuring Anna Maria Tremonti, award winning journalist and host of the CBC’s current affairs program, The Current.

Toronto, ON – The Law Foundation of Ontario is pleased to announce the release of the report “Connecting Across Language and Distance: Linguistic and Rural Access to Legal Information and Services” prepared by Karen Cohl and George Thomson, two public policy experts with justice experience.

The Law Foundation of Ontario commissioned this report because so many of the
grant applications it received identified access to justice for linguistic minorities and residents of rural and remote parts of the province as an area of concern. In addition to its ongoing funding of access to justice initiatives, the Foundation decided to engage in a broader consultation to better understand the problem and to generate recommendations for improvement.

The Connecting Report describes significant barriers to access to legal information and services for people who do not speak English or French and people living in rural or remote areas, reviews efforts in many jurisdictions to reduce these barriers and suggests possible approaches for Ontario. It provides recommendations for improving linguistic and rural access to justice. The Connecting Report recommends strategic investment in the following six areas:

• Improving the capacity of non-legal community organizations to provide legal information and referrals
• A regional planning model for a designated geographic area
• Creation of a network of legal interpreters
• Videoconferencing
• Articling positions for organizations providing legal services to persons isolated by language or distance
• Evaluating the above initiatives and establishing a clearinghouse for information about efforts to address access to justice issues.

Sandy Hutchens welcomes this report which is a valuable resource for all those who are interested in access to justice issues and is now considering the report’s recommendations. It particularly wishes to thank the many community organizations and individuals who participated in the consultation process that led to this report.