Achieving inclusion in family law and child protection
What would you do if you had a client with a mental disability who wanted to fight for custody of her child ... or a developmentally handicapped adult client who wanted to make decisions about his own...
View ArticleApril 6-12 is National Victims of Crime Awareness Week
This week, it’s timely to reflect upon the issues facing victims of crime and the services, assistance and laws in place to help victims and their families. When a crime is committed, the repercussions...
View ArticleVictory at Ontario Court of Appeal protects rights of people receiving social...
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently considered a thorny issue: can the director of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) or the Social Benefits Tribunal ever choose to waive collection of...
View ArticleDiversity and inclusion: an important piece of the “access to justice” puzzle
By Noëlle Richardson In my view, access to justice is only possible if we in the justice system provide relevant, responsive services to society’s most vulnerable people. Inclusion can help employees...
View ArticleConnecting Ottawa: Linking people with communications challenges to legal...
When people have difficulty communicating, they have difficulty accessing justice. This is the theme for the recently-established Connecting Ottawa/Connexion Ottawa network. Spearheaded by South Ottawa...
View ArticleParkdale Project Read: community-based adult literacy
Pictured above: A group of Parkdale Project Read students saying “thank you”. The relationships between literacy levels, poverty and access to justice are well established (try a quick web search)....
View ArticleJohn Warren of Dying with Dignity Canada on Carter v. Canada
John Warren is vice-chair of the board of directors of Dying with Dignity Canada.The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has been seeking to change the laws in Canada that govern...
View ArticleEd Montigny of ARCH Disability Law Centre talks access to justice
This post is part of our Personal perspectives on access to justice series. At its most basic, access to justice means an appropriate level of assistance with legal issues for people when they need...
View ArticleVictories for social assistance recipients who need special diet allowance
Community legal clinics, with help from Legal Aid Ontario’s Clinic Resource Office, have had great success in challenging the manner in which the provincial government dispenses the special diet...
View ArticleThe Carter decision: where do people with disabilities go from here?
In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its landmark decision in Carter v Canada, which raises questions that are important for people with disabilities. Elsa Ascencio and Nilofar Ahmadi...
View ArticleFallon Melander talks about her history and the importance of Aboriginal...
I’m Ojibway. I come from a line of women who are survivors of displacement. And despite what they went through—maybe even because of it—I believe that we all need to see, learn about and celebrate the...
View ArticleInfographic: National Access Awareness Week – June 1‑7 2017
Access means more than just removing physical barriers. It means changing attitudes and support that allows all people with visible or invisible disabilities to be part of community life.
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