NEWS
6 Obiter Dicta
Access to Justice and the Internet
CLEO’s Fiona MacCool on Accessible Information
nabila khan ›
canadian forum on civil justice
I
n nov ember 2014, the Canadian Forum on
Civil Justice launched a new series on the A2J
blog titled “Access to Justice Advocates.” The
series is a response to recent reports that have
underscored the importance of innovation and imagination in the pursuit of access to justice. At CFCJ, we
understand that such efforts come down to people—
to the diverse advocates working in different and
important ways across the access to justice landscape.
The CFCJ had the exciting opportunity to visit
these advocates where they work in order to learn
more about their unique perspectives on the issue.
Our most recent interviewee, Fiona MacCool of
Community Legal Education Network (CLEO), is
a Project Manager of Your Legal Rights—an online
resource produced by CLEO to provide free legal
information for people in Ontario.
Funded by the Law Foundation of Ontario, Your
Legal Rights provides practical, easy-to-find legal
information produced by approximately three hundred organizations across the province. The website
also provides answers to common questions regarding everyday legal problems, an interactive map of
key legal and social services in Ontario, and public
legal education webinars.
“We are trying to get this information to people in
a variety of ways: where they live or based on whatever organizations they trust and work with,” says
MacCool, “and it is also a way for us to highlight the
amazing work being done by hundreds and hundreds
of organizations in Ontario who do public legal education but might not be able to promote it or market
it.”
During her interview with CFCJ, MacCool also discussed her history working with non-profit organizations just as the Internet was beginning to emerge.
These organizations quickly began to recognize the
Internet as a tool for getting information out into the
world and into the hands of people who need it in a
tradition of transparency and justice.
“The main thing that pulled all [these organizations] together was collaboration,” explains MacCool,
“So [these were] not just information websites but
places where people can share information and get
information from people; let them tell their story and
help build the capacity for organizations to work efficiently and collaboratively.”
MacCool’s work with the Your Legal Rights project
demonstrates the power of the Internet in providing
greater access to justice. The website has become the
hub for legal information for everybody in Ontario,
not just service providers. The traffic to the website
Green Tip of the Week
Sustainability at Home
liane langstaff ›
osgoode sustainabilit y committee
W
hether at Passy or at home,
here are some easy sustainability tips:
• Electronics continue to drain electricity when
they’re plugged in even when they are off. Save
power by turning off your power-bars or unplugging electronics that aren’t in use.
• Don’t flush floss down the toilet. It gathers in
water treatment plants, tangles in the filtration
systems, and causes hundreds of thousands of
dollars of damage each year for the city.
• Light right! Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
They produce the same amount of light, use onethird of the electricity, and last up to ten times as
long.
• Remember to turn off your faucet. Letting your
faucet run for five minutes uses about as much
energy as a sixty watt light bulb consumes in
fourteen hours.
See the World Wildlife Fund for more green ideas!
www.worldwildlife.org/pages/green-tips
ê Photo credit: ecohb.org
has doubled since its launch in 2011, and there has
been an explosion of interest in it in social media.
The people of Ontario are seeking more knowledge
regarding their legal rights, and CLEO demonstrates
that the Internet has become one of the most important tools for responding to this demand.
MacCool was previously the Project Manager of
CLEONet—a precursor to Your Legal Rights. For over
ten years, she has worked as an IT project manager,
software t rainer, and web content developer. MacCool
is passionate about helping non-profit organizations
take advantage of the cost-efficient and time-saving
power of the Internet to support community partnerships, share resources, and make a difference. u
To watch the full interview with Fiona, check out
the A2J Blog this April at www.cfcj-fcjc.org/a2jblog.
Would you like to make a submission to the A2J Blog?
Do you know an Access to Justice Advocate? Let us
know at [email protected]
Your Legal Rights website: www.yourlegalrights.
on.ca