Mel Anderson, SAGDA’s outgoing chair, is committed to fighting for the rights of queer and other marginalized and disadvantaged people across Canada.
Mel was born and raised in British Columbia, and went to law school at Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. While in law school, Mel worked at a legal clinic and summered at Legal Aid Ontario, primarily working on criminal and Children’s Aid Society appeals.
After law school, Mel clerked at the British Columbia Court of Appeal, and articled at Goldblatt Partners LLP, a law firm specializing in union-side labour law, civil litigation, constitutional law, Aboriginal rights law and public interest litigation.
After returning as an Associate at Goldblatt Partners, Mel’s legal career has focused on class actions, employment law, professional regulation, state accountability litigation, and other general litigation.
Mel is particularly proud to have worked on a number of cases advancing the rights of the queer community in Canada, including most recently her work representing a coalition of labour organizations intervening at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal in the UR Pride case.
Outside of her work, Mel has been involved with the SAGDA executive for four years, beginning as Secretary, and then acting as Vice-Chair, Chair, and now Past Chair. She also volunteers with the 519 Legal Clinic and the Workers’ Action Centre, and is on the legal issues committee for EGALE Canada.
Mel has enjoyed and appreciated her time with SAGDA, which has provided many different and varied opportunities to connect with other lawyers who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. She is looking forward to staying involved and growing SAGDA’s reach.
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