Message from the Executive Director
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Liaison Online! Our readers have told us that they’d like less paper and more online communication. We’re enjoying the opportunity to share with you more detailed stories and just-in-time updates on our successes and accomplishments. Follow the links below and tell us what you think.
As we move into the last year of our first mandate, we are in full throttle. You’ll want to read the stories about the persons with disabilities and the law consultations, the fifth annual Canadian Elder Law Conference and our family law project consultations. Keep watch over the next few months for interim reports on a number of our projects, as well as new consultation papers and a final report.
Since the LCO was launched, we’ve made it our goal to extend our public sector reach. Thank you to our contacts at the Ministry of the Attorney General for facilitating my attendance at a meeting of ministry legal directors and at a meeting of deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers. I’ve been chatting with people from other ministries with a particular interest in our work, including the senior management in community and social services. This is a great beginning to our strengthened ties with government ministries whose views on our projects are crucial to the development of feasible recommendations.
Hard to believe, but by the time you receive this you won’t feel it’s too early for New Year wishes — and so, a Happy and Healthy 2011 to our friends and partners from all of us at the LCO!
Elder Law goes global
UPDATE: View the Conference papers and presentations here.
Elder rights, ageism and the law, access to justice and law reform for older persons were the focus, October 28-29, at the fifth annual Canadian (International) Conference on Elder Law, hosted by the Law Commission of Ontario, the Canadian Centre for Elder Law and the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly. (more)
Vote of support
The Law Society of Upper Canada has confirmed support for the LCO’s renewal and funding for a five-year term beginning in January 2012. (more)
Reflecting family realities
The LCO’s consultation report on the experiences of social workers, lawyers, judges, counsellors and individuals involved in Ontario’s family law system is “lending credence to what many of us have been saying for years,” says domestic violence expert Marianne Park. (more)
Ontario’s dis-Abled speak out
Spanning five cities, 17 focus groups and close to 200 participants, the consultation phase of the LCO’s study of the law as it affects persons with disabilities has now concluded. (more)
National take on law reform
LCO staff and Board members compared notes with representatives of four other provincial law reform agencies at the Federation of Law Reform Agencies of Canada symposium, October 26-28. (more)
Opinions Wanted
Public feedback is now invited on the LCO’s consultation report for the Family Law Reform Project. (more)
UPDATE: Public feedback is now invited on the Provincial Offences Act and Vulnerable Workers projects.
Watch soon for the interim report on the Persons with Disabilities project, along with the final report on the Joint & Several Liability project.
In brief
Counsel-in-Residence Mohan Sharma of the Office of the Chief Justice, Superior Court of Justice; LCO Board of Governors member Lorne Sossin, dean of Osgoode; and students Courtney Evans, Nicoletta Lakatos, Jael Marques de Souza and Howie Kislowicz, are among the new faces at LCO this fall.
Have a comment about one of our stories? Share your comments using the link at the bottom of each story.