Scott: Welcome, everyone. My name is Scott Jolliffe. I'm a partner at the firm of Gowling WLG and a member of the Board of the Legal Leaders for Diversity Trust Fund. Let me begin by thanking all of you for joining our celebration today, although for the first time as an online gathering, we're still thrilled to have all of you here. We'll have a combination of speakers for you today and a few slides as well. I'll just remind you, for those of you who are not used to Zoom yet, that there is a button on your screen that allows you to switch to active speaker view which will bring the person speaking to the full screen, except when we're sharing some slides. On behalf of the Board of the Trust Fund I'm honoured to welcome you to this event today. It's our privilege to recognize and applaud some extraordinary law students and graduates. These individuals, through their deep commitment and determination, are the esteemed recipients of the 2020 Legal Leaders for Diversity scholarship. First of all, let me introduce the Trust Fund Board. If you can change that slide, Stephanie. The Board consists Daniel Desjardins, our Chair, Ken Fredeen, Geoff Creighton, Clemens Mayr and Gordon McCue, who I believe are all here today. Also with us today are representatives from some of the companies and law firms that have generously contributed to the fund and several of the Deans and other representatives from the law schools, which our scholarship winners have attended. I want to thank you all for your very generous support for the Trust Fund for the scholarships and the careers of these very worthy recipients. Finally, let me also thank the people at Bombardier Transportation, ... ... and the business support team at Gowling who have done all the heavy lifting to make this program and event possible. So here's our agenda for today. We'll hear from Daniel Desjardins about the Legal Leaders for Diversity Trust Fund. We'll hear from Ken Fredeen about the importance of the diversity in the legal profession and a few words from Geoff Creighton congratulating our award winners. I'll then introduce all of our award winners, and then ask each of them if they'd like to say a few words, to take the podium. Today, rather than clapping our hands or cheering, let's just have a sign of applause, if we can, by raising our hands and waving them in that sign language fashion. So let me now turn it over to Daniel Desjardins, the Chair of the Bombardier Transportation Board, more importantly today, the Chair of the Legal Leaders for Diversity Trust Fund. I just have to say that Daniel has been the inspiration that sparked the creation of this meaningful initiative and it's his hard work and dedication that continues to make this vision a reality, year after year. So, Daniel, over to you.
Daniel: Thank you, Scott. Do you hear me okay, everybody?
Scott: Yes.
Daniel: Good. Look, first a few words to all of you, the recipients, the students, well done. You should be proud. This is a great achievement and, again, very difficult selection for all of us, the Trustees. We had, again, over 70 applications and you all made it through so, well done. Kudos to you. Frankly, you should be proud, as I said, and don't hesitate to kind of boast yourself because you're part of a very select group. So good for you. When we created this, 6 years ago now, my view joined with many others like Scott and all the Trustees, Geoff and Ken on this call, and many general counsel and managing partners across Canada, we all believe that students in law faculties across Canada, that needed support, and we were there to provide that support. I am glad that we are doing that and to promote equal access to legal litigation. As I said, you're part of a very selective group. Look at over the years we've given now 69 scholarships for $20,000.00 and you see this selection across Canada which is also well balanced and diversity is important to all of us. More than anything else we know what it is to go in law school and also the challenges it means. Our goal is to support you, help you in so many ways. Don't hesitate to reach out to all of us and if you need support, mentorship, whatever, we'll be happy to provide and share a bit of our experience. We want you to succeed and, this scholarship, hopefully it will helpful you on that path to success. I want to thank also Scott, Ken and Geoff who are with me today. They are part of the Trust. They're Trustees, being supportive and core of the selection process. So, again, thank you all. Thank you also to the Magic Marker and to my company Bombardier, who's been providing funds for this initiative for many years. It's something that we're very proud so, again, I will not say more than that. Geoff, I will ask you to say a few words and then we'll pass it to Ken. Geoff, over to you.
Geoff: Okay. I just simply wanted to bring congratulations from all of the Trustees and also from Legal Leaders for Diversity, more generally, to our scholarship recipients. Daniel's already alluded to the fact that there's a lot hurdles involved in getting yourself to a position where you can even get into law school, and then once you're in legal studies, there's a lot more hard work and dedication that is involved in mastering those legal studies. Those 70 plus applicants, and certainly you as scholarship recipients, have been mastering, successfully navigating those waters but in each case addressing unique situations that present unique challenges for each of you. I guess where I come out is that this really shows a strength of character that I think all successful law students need, but in your cases there's just that extra little bit that bodes well for your future contributions to the legal community and to the wider communities. On behalf of the Trustees, we're just so glad if we can be a small helpful part of that. Congratulations to all of you.
Daniel: Thank you. Ken, will you say a few words?
Ken: I'd love to. Thank you so much, Daniel and Geoff. It was about 10 years ago that a small group of general counsel in Canada decided to establish Legal Leaders for Diversity and Inclusion. The purpose of that was to create a more inclusive legal profession and I think we've accomplished that in many ways with now well over 100 general counsel across Canada. In 2012 I was appointed by the Federal Government to look at job opportunities for people with disabilities in the private sector and we published our report in January of 2013. Just before it was published I had breakfast with Daniel and he was quite interested in what I was doing for the Federal Government. Daniel, it seems like yesterday that we had that lunch, or that breakfast, and you said we should do something to support law students with disabilities. I said I think that's a wonderful idea. Go for it. So it was that many years ago and Daniel has done an incredible job of building of a fund that can support students with disabilities. For me, inclusion in the legal profession, there's no other profession that should exhibit the principles of inclusion and diversity than the legal profession. I don't think we've done a very good job at it. I think we can do a lot more and I think at the core of that for me is the disability space. That is students with disabilities, who are now coming into the legal profession in a larger number of cases with incredible talents, and you're examples of that. You will change the profession. You will change the profession. We believe strongly in that. What you bring to the table in terms of your diversity of thought, you're unique lived experiences are hugely important to this profession, today more than ever. I encourage all of you to be vocal, to be bold, be courageous and call on us, and call on others, to support you in the development of your legal career. You've got a wonderful career ahead of you, each of you, and I just encourage you to continue to do more and speak your voice. Share your lived experience, if you're willing to, because by virtue of that we become more inclusive as a legal profession. So congratulation on your scholarship. Well earned. This is my favourite day of the year. Scott, thanks for hosting once again. I really appreciate it.
Scott: Thanks very much, Ken and Geoff and Daniel. I now have the privilege of introducing our award winners. I apologize if I am too long in my introductions but each of you deserves a lot more than the little bit of introduction that I have for you.
I'll do this alphabetically, if I may, and I'll start with Avesta Alani, who about 15 minutes before we started, said that she wasn't going to be able to join us because she has a gas leak in her apartment. But Avesta Alani just completed her third year, and final year, of the JD program at York University. She has demonstrated tremendous initiative, both in the classroom and beyond, despite the fact that she is legally blind and cannot read printed text. She relies on accessibility software and audio technology and her strong listening and oral skills have served her will in mooting. Avesta placed first in North America and fourth internationally at the International Criminal Court Moot last year. She was chosen as the inaugural Dean's Fellow for Access and Inclusion at her law school, providing mentorship to first year law students. Avesta recently wrote and published a book called, 'Diffability: The Liberation of Potential' which addresses misconceptions about disability and ways to overcome them.
Michaela Baer finished her first year of law school studies.
Avesta: Hello?
Scott: Yes?
Ken: Avesta is there. Or was there.
Scott: Avesta, have you know been able to join us?
Avesta: Yes. Sorry. It was a last minute we were allowed to get back in so I rushed to my computer and logged on. Sorry.
Scott: That's okay.
Avesta: It was not worth seeing.
Scott: I'll come back to you then as I ask each of you who wish to say a few words. But, Michaela Baer finished her first year of studies towards her JD degree at the University of Victoria. Michaela has struggled with anorexia nervosa but she came to terms with her disability and wanted to make certain that she was healthy before starting law school. In the summer of 2019 Michaela entered a 12 week intensive therapy program at an Alberta hospital. Now finished her first year, she has already made a substantial contribution to the law school by participating in Student Journal Appeal and as a member of the volleyball team. Michaela has adjusted well to the demands of law school and is doing well academically. She also serves as a children's mentor in a private refugee sponsorship group.
Yanick Gagnon-Carbonneau finished his second year at the University of Sherbrooke. Yanick has been pursuing the co-op path of the law school program. This program alternates academic learning with co-op work placements and requires three different work placements. Yanick has Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, or LHON, an inherited form of vision loss and he is considered legally blind. Despite the challenges this condition presents, Yanick takes up the challenge with remarkable resilience, perseverance and courage. Yanick completed his first co-op internship with a large firm where he contributed to an environment that aims to respect diversity and to be more inclusive of professions with disabilities.
Dave Grewal recently completed his first year of the 3 year JD program at the University of British Columbia's Peter Allard's School of Law. Dave has been diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, which is a degenerative condition of the retinas in the eye, in which people slowly lose peripheral vision. Dave earned an undergraduate degree in mechatronics engineering and hopes to pursue business law with an interest in intellectual property. A highlight for Dave in his first year which is work with the Law Student Legal Advice program. This group provides legal aid in BC and Dave enjoyed the opportunity to develop and apply his skills and help clients, playing a role in helping people gain access to justice in British Columbia.
Lauren Hogan recently finished her first year of law school at the University of Ottawa. Lauren has experienced permanent hearing loss in both ears since birth. She records her lectures and uses hearing aids which have enhanced her academic performance. Lauren has traveled to various countries and enjoys learning about new cultures. She has volunteered for several community groups and is interested in international human rights and international criminal law. Lauren hopes to pursue a legal career in these areas with a focus on helping people in the developing world. This fall Lauren will serve as Vice-President of two student associations, the Student Society of International Law and the Association for the Protection of Animal Rights. Both of which are her passions.
Samuel Johnson has recently completed the JD program at the University of Alberta. He's originally from the Yukon but he will do his articling this fall at Birdsell Grant LLP, a respected law firm serving many of Alberta's communities West of Edmonton. Samuel has faced several personal challenges while at law school as well as being diagnosed with Coats disease, a rare eye disorder that leads to detached retinas and loss of vision. Samuel previously ran a small business which sparked his interest to pursue a Bachelor of commerce and then later his law degree. He hopes to practice corporate and commercial law and he won't rule out running for elected office at the Municipal level in the future. Samuel enjoys working on large legal projects where he learns as much as possible about a matter in order to master the subject and then come up with solutions.
Connor Steele has completed his first year of law school at the University of Ottawa. He is living with cerebral palsy and a vision spatial learning disability, among other physical challenges. Despite these obstacles he earned a Masters degree in political science and then a PhD in religious studies and sexual studies. Dr. Steele, as he doesn't like to be called, volunteers with Action Canada through Pro Bono Students Canada to advocate for the delivery of gender diversity education and he strives to eliminate the disadvantages that gay students face in today's schools. Connor decided to become a lawyer after facing his own systemic barriers and stereotypes, in addition to the challenges of finding a legal aid lawyer with a wheelchair accessible office. He has been open in sharing his own struggles and his leadership focuses on mentoring and advocating for others with physical disabilities, while stressing the need for lawyers to take positive steps to redress injustices.
Danielle Winter is a second year JD student at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. Unfortunately she couldn't be with us today but Danielle demonstrates a strong academic record and contributes to the law school as a peer mentor and educator. She has maintained excellent marks and engagement with the law school despite challenges of having Type 1 diabetes and related complications. This disease has resulted in vision loss, as well as reliance on daily injections of two types of insulin, and various other regular treatments for ongoing eye issues to manage her disability. Despite these challenges Danielle tutors other students, facilitates academic sessions and serves as a mentor to first year students at Dalhousie.
Finally, Megan Wood. Megan will be graduating in 2021 from Lakehead University's Bora Laskin School of Law. A top student, Megan was chosen to be a Dean's Fellow, reflecting her strong academic performance and leadership skills. Megan has cerebral palsy and is committed to advocating for people with disabilities. She had made significant contributions to student life at the law school and as Dean's Fellow she has been heading up tutorial groups in contracts and torts. She has also worked with the mentorship program to help first year students integrate into the law school environment. She is aspiring to become a personal injury lawyer.
So, you are all amazing as those very short bios describe you. Your commitment and remarkable strength and courage and determination in the pursuit of your legal careers and frankly, in life, is inspiring to everyone. As Ken has emphasized you are going to make a difference and you are going to help this world better understand the importance of diversity and inclusion. So let me now ask you, if you wish, and please don't feel obligated but if you wish to say a few words we would all love to hear from you. So, Avesta, we'll continue with this alphabetically and for those of you would like to switch to speaker view please feel free to do that.
Avesta: Can everybody hear me okay?
Scott: Yes, perfect.
Avesta: Okay. Perfect. Thank you. I just wanted to say thank you very much for initiating this initiative. It really does go a long way. I appreciate the Legal Leaders Diversity Trust Fund immensely. It is a great support, but even more so, it's wonderful encouragement for us to be empowered in our continuous education in our careers going forward. I know that it's helped me a lot. In particular your support. I'm in the middle of writing the bar exams. I just did my barrister's yesterday so it's definitely helped me along in preparation for that so I really appreciate it. I really appreciate the fact that diversity in the private sector was one of the pillars inspiration because that's something that's very close to my heart as well. I hope to be able to become a leader and a voice for that during my articling in a firm in Toronto that I'm continuing and throughout my personal career. Thank you again. I really appreciate it and in return I hope that I'm able to pass it down. Thank you.
Scott: Thank you very much, Avesta, and thanks for joining us under these circumstances. There you are, visually. So, Michaela Baer. Are you able to turn your video on?
Michaela: Oh, can you not see me?
Scott: Oh there you are. Perfect.
Michaela: Sorry.
Scott: Yes, we can.
Michaela: I wanted to say thank you, first of all, for organizing this today and having us all on. It's a really wonderful, it's my pleasure to be included amongst such an amazing group of students and I feel really honoured to be included and a part of this. I want to thank all the members of the Legal Diversity Trust Fund Board for your time and for your commitment to this wonderful support community that you've created, both professionally through mentorship and also the financial support that you give out to us. I was very surprised and shocked to be chosen. The main feeling that I had when I heard was an unbelievable wave of gratitude and pride. It feels really reassuring to be celebrated, not despite our disabilities, but because of them and it's such a wonderful message to receive that we're important parts of the legal community. I'm really thankful for this program and for all of the time and energy that you all spend on it. It's truly a wonderful community to be a part of. Thank you.
Scott: Thank you very much, Michaela. Dave Grewal, are you live, audio, visual?
Dave: Hello? Can you hear me?
Scott: Yes, there you are. Perfectly.
Dave: Awesome. I guess I just wanted to reiterate what Avesta and Michaela said. To thank the members of the Board, Ken, Scott, Geoff, Daniel and I also didn't expect to be chosen. When I found out it was quite a good feeling. Also, there are two aspects to it. One, just receiving the recognition of an amazing award like this and then there's the other aspect which is the financial support which definitely helps, in terms of it's one less thing to worry about. I'm not of less ... of putting on that you can put towards our studies and academics so I guess I just wanted to express my thanks.
Scott: Thanks very much, Dave. Lauren. Lauren Hogan.
Lauren: Yes. Do you hear me okay?
Scott: Yes, perfectly.
Lauren: Alright. Again, I would just first like to thank Gowling WLG and all the sponsors for allowing me to be here today and specifically to those who've I been in contact with, Daniel Desjardins, great initiative I find, and Scott Jolliffe, Shannon Wadsworth and Marion Fortunato. I'd also like to congratulate all the other recipients. I think that we should all be very proud and I'd like to thank my family too, watching, and the staff at the University of Ottawa. So I'm moving to Ottawa. I'm originally from Montreal and I'm moving to Ottawa was very, very hard on me. It was very taxing just the amount of course work of university, let alone law school and moving out at 18, it was very lonely and very much an adjustment period for myself. I think that my disability, my hearing impairment, has been ever present for me in the past 2 years just because I am going to school in French. So for the first time in all my schooling I've notice how it's affected me, very much so, in my academics. I've had this disability my entire life. I would have teachers ask me what's going on and why I couldn't understand certain things. I process information at a slower rate and that less information just because of my hearing loss and I do not hear everything. So I spend my time going over lectures, as was said earlier, just to find very few words but it does make all the difference. I do want to say a bit more about my background. I have wanted to be a human rights lawyer for so long and even before I really knew what it meant. So I've been working towards this goal for such a long time. It was very difficult for me last year to cope with the fact that it could have ended this dream of being lawyer so abruptly. I split my first year into 2 years, actually, so that I could redo all my classes and I finished with a strong GPA and confidence going into my next year, ... year, knowing that I've gotten over this hardship, plus, even if I haven't the personal growth and my maturity and experience over the past 2 years that I receive is what I'm going to take forward into my career and into my everyday life. I think that my hearing problem, while it is a disability, has taught me so much about myself and about my capabilities as a person. Everyone really has their own journey but mine, specifically in the past few years, has been about perseverance, specifically, and I think that all students in the future should find something that motivates them to continue moving. The Legal Leaders of Diversity Trust Fund has meant so much to me, personally, just because it's been so rewarding. On a personal level I find that I can fully see that my hard work is working, it's going towards something great, even though it's a bit far out of reach still, my goal, and it has really pushed me to continue pursuing my passion even more so. With that being said, I just wanted to thank Gowling once again, and I look forward to hearing what everyone else has to say.
Scott: Thanks very much, Lauren, and you're very brave to do this. We had offered to have someone speak in sign but you decided to make the best of it. Thank you very much. Let me ask Samuel, Samuel Johnson.
Samuel: Hi. Can you hear me?
Scott: Perfectly, thank you.
Samuel: Just, again, what everyone else has said. Thank you so much. I'm honestly humbled to have been selected after hearing a short bio about what everybody else. I'm surprised to count myself with this group of individuals. We're in a strange situation. Meeting remotely. I just finished my law degree and when I discovered I'd been selected it was actually right after I had finished my final exam. I was done everything. Submitted all my assignments and I closed my exams off there and kind of though to myself, well this is a little anti-climatic for finishing law school, and I checked my email quickly and saw that I had won the award and I said, actually this isn't so anti-climatic after all. This is great. I want to just say thank you to everybody and I don't envy the position that you're in to have to select the people that will receive this award. I can imagine how challenging that would be so, thank you so much.
Scott: Thank you very much, Samuel. Connor Steele.
Connor: First of all I'd like to echo the thanks of everyone. It's amazing that lawyers, with all the practicing lawyers have to do, take the time to do these one topic initiative on top of what I'm sure, for a lot of you, based on like the ... ... backgrounds, for example, are already so on top and rewarding careers compared to most lawyers. What this money really emphasizes for me, as someone playing in social sciences, is the importance of that backing up our commitment to inclusion and diversity with a strong focus on material conditions. So I worked in a legal aid clinic this summer. I was fortunate enough to be selected to that and this scholarship helped with that but I would like to use my time to encourage all of you to research and protest vigorously before governments a revamp to legal aid because we can talk about inclusion in the legal profession as an important thing in its own right, but why we want inclusion in the legal profession is ultimately, I think, to create a more just society for those who are oppressed and the reality is a large percentage of people using legal aid are in some way disabled. So thanks, again, for your generous contribution because I need money, everyone needs money, to go to law school and let's use this opportunity to reflect on what we can do to stop initiatives which make it materially difficult for persons like us who are oppressed.
Scott: Thank you very much, Connor. That's a very inspiring and a real call to action for all of us. So let me now turn to Megan Wood.
Megan: Hi, can everyone hear me?
Scott: Yes.
Megan: Awesome. First off I have to thank the Board members. You've created a beautiful space for us to even have this discussion today. I'm kind of blown away. I'm really heartened to believe that there's people like you, out in this space, doing this good work. I'm from a small community so my exposure to these spaces, where we can discuss diversity and inclusion, is quite limited. So this is quiet remarkable for me to be here and I have absolutely loved and enjoyed getting to hear from my colleagues around Canada. That's incredible and incredible work that you guys have done. Thank you for allowing me to a part of this today and thank you very much for this generous contribution my schooling. I know I was amazed. I started law school and I've always wished to work with people with disabilities and I've always tried to put myself in a landscape where I can be best suited to advocate in that area. So I've decided to become a lawyer and on my first day in law school I was just absolutely shocked and appalled. We're in a beautiful completely, entirely inaccessible building. So there's lots of work to be done. Lot's of things to do and it really brings me joy that there are Board members, such as yourselves, Trustees such as yourselves, that are out there doing good work and that there's a generation of students like me, who are going to be out there doing the good work too. Thank you so much for this opportunity and I cannot tell you how much today has meant to me.
Scott: Oh, thank you, Megan and we can all take a minute to wave our hands and congratulate you. As I say, you are truly inspirational and will now become part of the work that we're doing, and hopefully the little bit that we're able to contribute, to making lives like yours more inclusive and more successful.
Daniel: So Scott, let me say a few words.
Scott: Yes, Daniel.
Daniel: Just going back to what you all said. It justifies exactly what we wanted to do. All of you. What you said, it was so great. So articulated. You are all bright, resilient, intelligent. It is heartwarming to see you succeed and we want you to succeed. Going back to what Michaela said, yes you're part of this legal community, but you're also a very selective group of scholarship, recipients of that scholarship. So, again, be proud of it. Be very proud of it. I'm excited l, for one, I know that I'm talking for all the Trustees, they'll do more of that, believe me. There's more money coming and one of the reason that we all did this is we're on top of the food chain. Right? You've seen our hair, or lack of hair, and we want to pay it forward and I'm glad that we're doing it with you because you deserve every penny, every honour of it. So, again, congratulations. Talking about money, it's important. As I told you ... and I went to the bank, the Royal Bank, on Monday, we all got the bank draft done so it's true money. It's a bank draft, it's not a cheque, so it will not bounce. Money is on its way. It's in the mail. Truly it is in the mail and should you not receive it by let's say next week, please write back to me or ... and we'll chase it down. We'll make sure it's there. You should be getting it in the next few days. Again, congratulations to all of you.
Scott: Thank you very much, Daniel. I must say that I'm receiving a lot of words of congratulation from those who, although not on screen, are here very much in spirit and heart and I will share with you all of the notes of congratulations that have been coming in during the course of this. We wish you all the best and, as I said at the outset, Daniel, Ken, Geoff and I, as well as the other members of our Board and Trust, would be very pleased to hear from you and to give you the help that we're able to. So, the best of success in your careers and in your lives. Congratulations.