A5-D5: Ontario’s Human Rights System and Legal Support
Staff from the Human Rights Legal Support Centre (HRLSC) will provide information on current trends and statistics of the relatively new Ontario’s human rights system, significant changes and how it will affect your clients. The session will highlight the role of and how to get legal help from the HRLSC. Workshop participants will learn:
- What constitutes a human rights claim and what does not
- When to refer a client directly to the centre and when to call staff and the centre to ask for a direct intervention
- Where to find appropriate resources
- Who to talk to at the Human Rights Legal Support Centre
This will be an interactive session with case histories, Human Rights Tribunal decisions and strategies. It will be of interest to both managers and front-line staff.
Karen McNeilly has been a Law Clerk for 30 years. She had worked in the private sector until joining the Human Rights Legal Support Centre. Her experience is in civil litigation, criminal, corporate, estates and real estate law. Karen has experience with complainants in Criminal Injury Compensation matters and Human Rights matters. She has worked extensively with young people from many different communities and been involved in community based sports programs for students.
Kate Sellar received her law degree from the University of Windsor. She was a student caseworker at Legal Assistance of Windsor, a downtown legal aid clinic. Kate articled and then practiced at Bakerlaw as an associate for nearly 2 years, representing complainants in human rights cases, particularly in the areas of medical services and young people with mental health and substance abuse diagnoses. Kate has a long history of volunteer work, including monitoring cases involving violence against women for gender bias and assisting in a classroom for young offenders in a secure custody facility, as well as serving as a member of the Board of Directors for Adult Learning Disability Employment Resources (ALDER). She is currently a member of Legal Aid Ontario’s Group Applications and Test Case Committee.
