NEWS
4 Obiter Dicta
Access to Justice Advocates
The Role of Ontario’s Secondary School Students in
Advocating for Access to Justice
sabreena delhon ›
canadian forum on civil justice
I
n Nov e m be r 201 4, 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. One of our most recent interviewees, Nat
Paul, is a Program Manager at the Ontario Justice
Education Network (OJEN) where he has a special interest in helping teachers create effective and
thought-provoking learning experiences for their
secondary school students.
OJEN is a public legal education organization
which focuses on providing general information for
the legal system and making partnerships between
individuals in the justice sector and those in the
education sector. As a Program Manager, Nat supports high school law teachers in using OJEN services to engage students with the legal system.
During his interview with CFCJ, Nat discussed
how people are often unable to see how their everyday problems are legal in nature. He described how
OJEN’s work with Ontario’s educators attempts to
narrow the gaps in access to justice by developing
programs that battle misconceptions about the justice system among students.
Nat’s work with high schools brings to light the
importance of shaping the young minds of our province in the pursuit of access to justice. Through high
school courses such as law, and even family studies,
Green Tip of the Week:
Yum, the York University Market
T
liane langstaff ›
osgoode sustainabilit y committee
he osgoode sus ta in a bili t y
Committee gets many requests
from students asking how to
access healthy, local food on
campus. In addition to the Osgoode
Bistro and its efforts to source at least
25% of its foods locally, YUM or the York
University Market is a great resource.
From local/ organic vegetables to fresh
baked bread and organic sweets, you
can do a lot of your grocery shopping
right on campus.
Brought to you by York University Food Services and
Regeneris@York, the YUM is held every Thursday
afternoon from noon to 5 p.m. in the Technology
Enhanced Learning (TEL) Building.
students are given the ability to recognize potential
legal issues and are encouraged to view the justice
system as their system–a system they have ownership of, will likely use in the future, and have the
opportunity to shape.
Nat Paul is an Ontario Certified Teacher specializing in Inner-City Education and holds a Masters
of Arts in sociology and education. He has six years
of experience in social justice teaching in secondary, community college, and university classrooms where he has emphasized personal and social
transformation through student engagement and
empowerment.
To watch the full interview with Nat, check out the
A2J Blog this February at www.cfcj-fcjc.org/a2jblog.
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