Law Union Annual Conference 2008

Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29

Read more for full schedule…

FRIDAY EVENING KEYNOTE

Alex Neve, Secretary General for Amnesty International Canada (English Speaking):

“The insecurity of human rights: Canadian law and practice in the ‘War on Terror’”

7:00pm

Bloor Street United Church

300 Bloor Street West at Huron (2 blocks east of Spadina subway)

$10 (students $5, unwaged PWYC)

After: socialize at the Fox & Fiddle Pub, 280 Bloor Street West

SATURDAY PANELS

***Please Note New Location!***

Hart House, University of Toronto

7 Hart House Circle (Museum subway), Second Floor

Wheelchair accessible – Childcare available

9:00 – 10:30

Right to Housing: Making it Legally Binding

Peter Rosenthal: Lawyer, Roach Schwartz & Associates
John Fraser: Program Director, Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation
Tracy Heffernan: Staff Lawyer, Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario

Chair – Jennifer Ramsay, Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario

Canadian Mining: Resisting Exploitation at Home and Abroad

Eric Gillespie: Lawyer, Cunningham & Gillespie
Charis Kamphuis: Law student, Osgoode Indigenous Intensive Program
Mining Watch Canada

Chair – Ryan White, Law Student

10:45 – 12:15

Police Chases: Any Justification? A Debate

Bob Kellermann: Criminal defence lawyer
Howard Morton: Criminal defence lawyer and former Chair, Special Investigations Unit
Pam McConnell, City councillor & member, Police Services Board
George Cowley Director of Legal Services, Toronto Police Service
Mike Abbott: Director of Uniform Administrative Services, Toronto Police Association
John Sewell, Toronto Police Accountability Coalition

Chair – Paul Copeland: Lawyer, Copeland Duncan

Walking Our Talk: Legal Practice that Reflects our Politics and Values

Juan Carranza: Civil lawyer and founder, Carranza Barristers and Solicitors,
Gitanjali Lena: Criminal defence lawyer and sole practitioner
Amy Wah: sole practitioner, administrative law

Chair – Mac Scott: Immigration consultant, Carranza Barristers and Solicitors

International Solidarity: The Role of Lawyers in Grassroots Struggles

Amina Sherazee, Barrister and Solicitor
Amparo Torres: Colombian labour activist and refugee
Moira Gracey: Lawyer, Carranza Barristers & Solicitors

Chair – Mike Leitold: Lawyer, Roach Schwartz & Associates

1:45 – 3:15

Environmental Refugees: The New Exodus

Laura Westra: Professor Emerita (Philosophy) University of Windsor; Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Ottawa Law School
Amina Sherazee, Barrister and Solicitor
Sima Sahar Zerehi: Status Now Campaign

Chair – Mac Scott: Member, No One Is Illegal; Immigration consultant, Carranza Barristers and Solicitors

Feminist Criminal Law: Theory and Practice

Marlys Edwardh: Criminal defence lawyer, Ruby & Edwardh
Justice Rebecca Shamai, Ontario Court of Justice
Diane Oleskiw: Criminal defence lawyer, Scott & Oleskiw

Gitanjali Lena, Sole Practitioner

Chair – Adriel Weaver: Criminal defence lawyer, Ruby & Edwardh

3:30 – 5:00

Plenary Session – Choice, Access and Women’s Activism:

Abortion Rights Twenty Years after Morgentaler

Judy Rebick: Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University; author of Ten Thousand Roses: The Making of a Feminist Revolution
Kathleen Howes: Staff Lawyer, CAW Legal Services Plan; Past President, Catholics for a Free Choice, Canada
Irina Ceric: Steering Committee Member, Law Union of Ontario; Board Member, Choice in Health Clinic

Chair: Tanya Gwen Thompson, student-at-law, Ruby & Edwardh

Fees: $35 for all panels ($10 students, unwaged PWYC) or $10 per session ($5 students, unwaged PWYC)

Registration begins at 8:30am; Law Union memberships available at the door.

Party Saturday night – location TBA at conference

For more information: 416-964-8126; lawunionconference @ gmail.com