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| Karen Perron |
With more change ahead and connection more critical than ever, I launched a presidential mandate that is focused on bringing regions together, harnessing the expertise of the OBA and taking full advantage of the opportunity found in our broad and diverse community. Lawyers should have everything they need — both inside and outside the practice of law — at their fingertips. And where they live and practise shouldn’t matter.
Regional differences remain highly relevant to the tools and services we continue to offer lawyers. But they are entirely irrelevant to their ability to access them. This is also true when it comes to helping lawyers give back to their communities. Since joining the OBA as a young lawyer, I’ve seen firsthand how members feel an obligation to give back to their communities — where they live and work. This sense of service is one of the reasons I joined and became active in the organization.
A great example of this has been during the pandemic. When tenants across Ontario were facing evictions because of a loss of income and government assistance was still being figured out at both the provincial and federal levels, our members — led by the OBA’s southwest regional representative Doug Ferguson — didn’t wait to try and figure out a way to help. OBA members didn’t hesitate to answer the call.
The Tenant-Lawyer Connection Portal was born of a pressing — almost emergency — need and a strong desire to help. Working with the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, volunteer lawyers from every judicial region of the province stepped forward to freely offer their time and their expertise to help people when they needed help the most. The OBA provided the virtual meeting space, and our volunteer lawyers provided the legal service. In the end, more than 200 people from every corner of the province were helped with free legal advice when they needed it most.
I’m excited that the organization will be building upon this success with a pan-provincial summit we’re planning that will bring together local community groups to discuss solutions to access-to-justice issues and ways lawyers can offer their expertise. The goal will be to identify barriers, develop regional solutions and profile community pro bono opportunities.
I’m hoping the Tenant-Lawyer Connection Portal can serve as a pilot project — or a template — for these future initiatives that show how an association like ours can bring regions together to serve all regions. I know our members will get behind worthy undertakings with all their energy and enthusiasm. After all, it’s projects like these that show when a crisis emerges that not only affects legal rights but also impacts people and their families, we can step up quickly and offer our help. It’s an important lesson and principle to keep in mind.
We know that lawyers have an innate desire to give back to their communities, and the Tenant-Lawyer Connection Portal is a great example of how we’re making it easier for them to do that. And it also demonstrates the work our members are doing to improve their communities, the profession and our system of justice.
No matter where they live and work in Ontario, I’m seeing this work and the positive changes they’re creating. I hope to use this space to highlight some of that work. Please check in regularly and learn more about my mandate by visiting oba.org.
Karen Perron is the 11th female president in the 114-year history of the Ontario Bar Association. She is a partner at Borden, Ladner, Gervais in Ottawa.
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