Welcome from the Chair and Vice Chair of the Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law Section

  • October 23, 2019
  • Morgana Kellythorne, The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and chair, OBA Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law; Nicola Simmons, Keel Cottrelle LLP, and vice-chair, OBA Constitutional Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

Welcome back! The Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights section executive has already been hard at work on a number of initiatives for this year. We welcome our new executive members and look forward to an engaging year of outreach and programming.

Programming

Our marquee program, the Annual Charter Conference, took place on October 3rd. A full house in person and via the web heard from leading practitioners and academics on topics ranging from the Charter year in review (thanks to executive member Yashoda Ranganathan) to hot topics involving the application of Charter law to election law, immigration detention and prison segregation, and access to justice. The grand finale was a roundtable on Charter advocacy featuring insights from top Charter litigators Cheryl Milne, Paul Cavalluzzo, and Robin Basu. Thanks go out to speakers, volunteers from the executive, and staff: this program comes together every year largely over the summer months, with the help of a small and dedicated army. Next year, consider joining the team! 

We are excited to offer a program in Ottawa on November 25, 2019, on Practice Essentials: Handling Human Rights, Employment and Labour Law Files Before Federal Tribunals. For those of you in the Ottawa area who practice in this area, this program is a must-attend.

In the new year, the CCLHR section will be co-chairing a program with the Health Law section at OBA Institute 2020 focusing on constitutional and human rights issues in health law, including medical assistance in dying and the nexus of technology and professional regulation. Put a save-the-date in your calendars for February 4, 2020.