Ian Scott Public Interest Internship Program - Osgoode Hall Law ...

Ian Scott Public Interest Internship Program

Table of Contents
Press Release ........................................................................................................ 3
Description of the Ian Scott Public Internship Program .......................................... 4
Reports:
1. Kofi Achampong, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2010 ........................... ..5
2. Meghan Wilson, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2010 ............................ . 10
3. James Yap, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2010 ................................... . 12
4. Stephanie Kam, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2011 ............................. .. 14
5. Swathi Sekhar, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2011 .............................. ...17
6. Christopher Kim, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class of 2011………………….19
7. Constanza Pauchulo, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class of 2012…………….22
8. Tessa Crosby, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class of 2013…………………….25
9. Jon O’Kane, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class of 2013………………………30
10. Sarah Colgrove, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class of 2013………………….32
Application form (2012) .......................................................................................... 34
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Press Release, November, 2005
New Osgoode Public Internship Program is a Tribute to the Honourable Ian Scott
TORONTO, November 10, 2005 – Colleagues and friends of one of Ontario’s most influential
political figures –The Honourable Ian Scott – will gather on Monday, November 14, 2005 at 5.30
p.m. at the National Club, 303 Bay Street, to celebrate the launch of the Honourable Ian Scott
Public Internship Program at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. The media is
cordially invited to attend.
Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, former Ontario Premier David Peterson, former Toronto
Mayor Barbara Hall, Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant and many judges and lawyers are
among the guests expected to attend this event marking the establishment of a program that will
help Osgoode students attain summer employment at public interest organizations.
In particular, the law firms of Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP and Gowling Lafleur
Henderson LLP, which have helped fund the internship program, will be recognized, as will the
five Osgoode students who participated in this summer’s inaugural internship program.
Ian Scott, who will be at the event, graduated from Osgoode in 1959 and received an honorary
doctorate from the Law School in 1997. In his careers as a barrister, politician and legal
educator, he set high standards of achievement with integrity and commitment. He argued many
important constitutional cases and was renowned for outstanding advocacy and clarity of
thought coupled with wit and humour.
First elected as a Liberal MPP to the Ontario legislature in 1985, he represented the riding of St.
George-St. David until his retirement from politics in 1990. He held key cabinet posts, including
Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Native Affairs.
As Attorney General, Scott spearheaded important reforms, including the introduction of the first
public sector pay equity legislation in North America and the comprehensive reform of the
Ontario court system.
He led the government's initiative to amend the Ontario Human Rights Code to prohibit
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and implemented a new process for provincial
judicial appointments.
For further information, please contact:
Virginia Corner
Communications Manager
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
416-736-5820
vcorner@osgoode.yorku.ca
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The Ian Scott Public Interest Internship Program is funded by Osgoode Hall Law School with the
generous support of the Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP Award, the Gowlings Award,
and the Friends of the Honourable Ian Scott, Q.C. Award.
This award was developed to support the initiative of students interested in social justice/public
interest and is available to students who attain summer work experience at a public interest
organization such as a legal aid clinic, advocacy organization or non-governmental organization.
Preference will be given to a student who is working unpaid or underpaid. Recipients must
demonstrate consistent high academic achievement and financial need.
Students are required to:
a) Initiate discussions with eligible organizations;
b) work with an organization to design a project that is in the public interest;
c) prepare and submit a formal proposal that describes the project; and
d) ensure the organization submits a letter of support for the student’s participation in the
project.
The award is intended to ensure students have funding, and thus the opportunity to work in
social justice for 12-16 weeks in the summer.
Who is eligible? Students entering their second or third year of the Osgoode J.D. program, or
entering their second, third or fourth year of a joint Osgoode degree program.
Due date: All completed applications must be at the Career Development Office by Thursday,
March 1, 2012 at 4:00pm. Students must submit three copies of their proposal by the due date.
Rate of pay: Up to $10,000 for full-time work, for up to 16 weeks; the award will be reduced if
the full-time work is less than 12 weeks.
Requirements: Students must submit a two-page report on their experiences to the Career
Development Office by the end of September, the same year.
Application: Complete applications will include: a description of the project, the letter of support
from the organization, a resume, a cover letter describing the student’s interest in the area and
commitment to social justice; undergraduate and law school transcripts; and the formal
application form.
Selection: Selection of the student and their project will be done by a three-person committee
involving the Assistant Dean, Recruitment, Admissions and Career Development, the Director,
Student Financial Services, and a member of faculty.
Criteria: Students will be selected on the basis of their proposal; their demonstrated
commitment to social justice; initiative in developing a project with an organization; extracurricular
and volunteer experiences; academic performance; and financial need.
The award is restricted to students who are Canadian citizens/permanent residents and, in most
instances, residents of Ontario.
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Kofi Achampong, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2010
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: African Union Commission
This past summer, I had the pleasure of travelling to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to work as an intern
at the African Union Commission (AUC). The AUC is the principle secretariat arm of the African
Union – a multilateral confederation of all African states (save Morocco) and other
intergovernmental organs- dedicated to the goal of achieving Africa’s political, social and
economic integration and development through coordinated action and decision making on
matters that collectively confront all states in the region. This opportunity was facilitated by
Osgoode Hall Law School, the University of Toronto’s African Studies Department, the African
Union, and was made possible by the funding provided through the Ian Scott Public Internship
Program. Overall, the experience was both rewarding and challenging on a variety of levels, and
ultimately, what I gained from it – both as a individual and as a law student - extends well
beyond any of the actual technical work I was engaged in while working at the Commission. The
following is a brief account of how this opportunity emerged, why I ultimately decided to pursue
it, and what I gained both as an individual and as a law student from the experience.
I have always had an interest in Africa, being both African (I was born in Ghana before
moving to Canada with my family at age 6) and having studied international relations during my
undergraduate studies at U of T- with a specific focus on African international relations and
socio-economic development. In fact, during those years, I had done both formal and informal
research on the African Union and had also come into contact with academics that specialized in
the area of African politics. One of those academics, Dr. Thomas Tieku, a lecturer at the
University of Toronto, became a regular contact of mine during my years of study. Aware of my
interest in African international relations, he informed me that there was an opportunity to work
as an intern at the African Union Commission; however, as the institution remained notoriously
underfunded, I would have to pursue my own avenues for funding.
After learning about the Ian Scott Public Internship Program during the first week of
orientation at Osgoode, I kept in mind the possibility of applying for this initiative. I was
encouraged by the law school’s sincere efforts to encourage students to broaden their horizons
on the law and consider social justice alternatives as viable options outside the normal ‘Bay
Street’ track. I considered the possibility of applying for this grant a fortuitous luxury, as avenues
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for funding of this sort are often limited and certainly few and far between. I also felt that the Ian
Scott Program presented a chance to actually discover my own interest in the law, while at the
same time contributing in meaningful ways to worthwhile causes and projects aimed at reducing
societal inequity and injustice.
And so, when the time came to consider what I was going to do with my summer after
completing a gruelling first round of law school, I decided that I would get my feet wet in the
matters to which that I had always had a passion-African development and politics. I met with
professor Tieku and informed him of the available options I had discovered at Osgoode during
my first year of studies. He encouraged me to contact the African Union and put together a
proposal for a research project that would actually allow me to contribute significantly to some of
the African Union’s most pressing concerns. After researching some of the matters that the
African Union had been engaged with over the last year or so, I decided that I would draw on
some of my past research experience with international organisations, to design a project that
would be at the heart of the African Union’s current agenda.
As an undergraduate student at U of T, I had been involved with a project appropriately
called the G8 Research Group. The G8 Research Group is an organisation founded by
professor John Kirton and a number of his former graduate students and colleagues, at the
Munk Centre for International Relations, located at the University of Toronto. The group also
comprises a number of student analysts, who every year, assess the compliance of G8 Memberstates
with official pronouncements and platforms on issues that concern Member-states of the
G8 as well as the global community. As a student analyst, I was responsible for researching and
writing on the compliance of G8 Member-states to their stated declarations during the annual G8
summits. Adapting this idea, I thought about the possibility of utilizing a similar strategy towards
the design of a compliance rubric that would measure the progress of AU Member-states with
directives that had been adopted by the African Union during annual Heads of States summits,
in particular those pertaining to the newly adopted African Charter on Democracy, Elections and
Governance.
With the assistance of Professor Tieku, I managed to contact various senior staff at the
African Union Commission’s Political Affairs and Legal Affairs department and thus, sent them a
copy of the project I intended to work on during my time there. They would eventually approve of
the project and instructed me to get into contact with their human resources department in order
to obtain official documents for processing and confirming the internship. I received these
documents and promptly completed them. When the time finally came to apply for the Ian Scott
Internship Program, I would use these documents along with the copy of my proposal as part of
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the overall submission. In the end, I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of a number of
recipients for funding through the Ian Scott Program, and was jubilant to have been given such a
rare opportunity to pursue a worthwhile initiative.
The internship itself would last for approximately 2 ½ months and would expose me to a
range of issues and challenges that I could never have imagined experiencing. I could also
never have envisioned that I would be able to contribute to some of the most urgent political and
social matters facing the continent of Africa today. Nonetheless, through this experience, I
learned that there were significant constraints to effectively implementing my project.
Unfortunately, almost immediately upon my arrival, I was confronted with the realisation that the
African Union Commission’s Political Affairs Department was abysmally under-resourced and
understaffed that it would be impossible to effectively complete the project in the space of the 2
½ month time-frame allotted for the project. Simply put, there was not enough logistical and
administrative support to effectively assist the design and execution of this project, and so,
almost as instantaneously as the initiative had started, I decided to alter the focus of the project.
Perhaps I was overly ambitious about what I thought I could accomplish, or rather I
hadn’t had enough exposure to the ways in which things operate in institutions of this sort. In
any case, after learning that it would be infeasible to implement the project as I had initially
planned, I decided to shift my focus away from working on my own single project, and instead I
chose to offer my services and experience towards various projects that needed assistance.
With a staff of less than 70 people in the Political Affairs Department, I could hardly imagine how
the entire Commission – with a staff of less than 350 in total – could possibly support and
manage the stream of activities concerning 53 countries representing over 800 million people.
As a consequence of my decision to work as a ‘general’ intern, I would be assigned to
work in a number of departments across many subdivisions of the Political Affairs Department
and the Legal Affairs Department. For the duration of the brief 2 ½ months, I would be assigned
to work across departments and subdivision including the Elections Division, the Human Rights
Division, the Governance Division, and I even got a chance to do some work with the Peace and
Security Division. Some of the more specific work I was able to contribute to included: drafting
an internal memorandum of the consequences of Zimbabwe’s electoral turmoil for future AU
monitored elections; writing up a concept note for an impending meeting on strategies for
integrating local governance actors (paramount chiefs, local ngo’s, religious groups etc) in the
larger-scale development projects of Member-states; developing a budget for multi-stakeholder
meetings happening all over the continent; attending and organizing conferences on the drafting
of a continental convention on internally displaced persons; providing critical research for a
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paper on the merging of the African Court of Justice and the African Court on Human and
People’s Rights, and of course, fulfilling regular internship duties like taking down notes in
meetings, photocopying and naturally, getting coffee.
All in all, the entire experience was enlightening and unforgettable. Ethiopia gave me a
wondrous opportunity to live in a society with a rich culture and history (human beings are
actually thought to have originated in a region not far from where I was staying), as well as the
chance to gain exposure to the realities of life and work in one of Africa’s most socially and
politically contentious hot-spots. I would often witness scenes of extreme poverty and
marginalisation that have given me a new appreciation for the role government, and the public
law in general, as a means of ensuring equal access and opportunity for those who- for
whatever reason- find themselves on the lower rungs of the economic ladder of society. The
political climate in Ethiopia was also tense to say the least. It presented a first hand glimpse of
some of the serious challenges facing not just Ethiopia, but the continent itself and the
institutions - the AU included - that have been charged with the task of helping to find wide-scale
solutions to the litany of problems facing the continent.
Of course, Ethiopia and the AU also offered me an opportunity to witness how local
ingenuity and hard work were interacting to counterbalance some of the uncontrollable global
and domestic forces that conspire to hamper a more equal standard of living for the vast majority
of the poor in Africa. In the end, I was left encouraged by some of the hard work that people and
organisations – whether at the AU, UN, in local government, in churches and mosques, or
simply on the street and in their homes – were doing to help alleviate large scale injustice and
inequity and was left changed by the experience in ways that will remain with me for the entirety
of my life and career.
As someone that is both interested in law from a public interest perspective, and as a tool
for combating societal inequity, I was stimulated and motivated by the experience I had at the
AU. I had an opportunity to contribute in meaningful ways to some of Africa’s most pressing
concerns, and was left enriched by the experience of working in an environment and institution
that itself, must confront some of the very challenges it aims to tackle. I’ve also learned that
lawyers are key players in the sphere of international politics and problem solving and must be
keenly attuned to the ways in which legal documents can have beneficial or disastrous
consequences for some of the world’s most marginalized communities.
I am sincerely grateful to the Ian Scott Internship Program for facilitating this opportunity
and for supporting not only my initiative, but those of other students equally committed to
utilizing the force of law to help create a more just and equitable society. As a champion of
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social justice, Ian Scott did much to ensure that some of the most disaffected and marginalized
segments of our society were given equal opportunity to pursue that which - regardless of
background, orientation or other particularity – is their rightful province and entitlement; equal
opportunity and a chance at happiness. Moreover, I am honoured to have served the African
Union Commission under his legacy and to have contributed in some small measure to the
creation of a more fair and just society.
Kofi Achampong
9

Meghan Wilson, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2010
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, Kampala, Uganda
The political riots following the elections in Kenya had me seeking out an internship with
an organization active in the advancement of civil and political rights in East Africa. We were told
about the Ian Scott Fellowship during my first week at Osgoode and I was excited about the
possibility of being able to take advantage of this great funding opportunity. I started by
researching possible host legal
organizations in the region over the internet
and narrowed down my options to those I
felt were involved in the most productive
work and who had hosted international
interns in the past. I contacted a number of
different NGOs, but I was the most
enthusiastic about the projects presented
by the Foundation for Human Rights
Initiative (FHRI) in Kampala, Uganda.
Through numerous correspondences, FHRI
and I were able to cooperatively establish
the terms of my proposed internship. With
the support of an Ian Scott Fellowship, I
was able to join FHRI’s Rights Monitoring and Advocacy team in their activities to advance civil
and political rights in Uganda.
My main project during my time at FHRI was to research and develop a progress report
on electoral reforms in the country. In 2006, Uganda held its first multi-party election in over
twenty years. Fortunately, the elections did not end with levels of violence commensurate with
post-election Kenya; however, they have been largely criticized for officially-sanctioned violence
towards opposition parties, intimidation of the electorate and unfair use of public funds. Uganda
remains a fragile democracy with serious impediments to citizens’ active assertion civil rights.
Many of the suggested reforms from the judiciary, the Uganda Human Rights Commission
(UHRC) and civil rights organizations will take years to implement and adequately inform the
public about. The intention of the report is to establish what progress has been made towards
these reforms and to advocate for all necessary reforms to be in place well before the 2011
elections.
We started by conducting some comparative
research on international election standards and varying
elections formats. Then, my research partner and I
interviewed members of the Electoral Commission,
Parliament, judiciary, the UHRC, media and civil society to
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establish what changes have been made since 2006 and what the experts feel are plausible
implementation methods and timelines. We also conducted focus group research in rural villages
and at an Internally Displaced People’s camp in Northern Uganda. Hearing this variety of voices
allowed for a more complete grasp of Uganda’s political climate and the current state of
democratic rights across the country.
In addition to the elections research, I also participated in the regular activities of the
research and advocacy department. These include conducting prison monitoring visits across
the country as part of the Foundations on-going efforts to protect prisoner’s rights. The
monitoring consists of investigating the conditions of the prisons and interviewing prisoners
about their treatment, including following-up on any specific harassment and abuse complaints. I
was also involved helping the Right to Life department develop mitigation pleas for prisoners on
death-row.
To diversify my experience from purely
research and interviews, I also asked if I could
assist the reparations department with some of
their cases. Through this work I was able to attend
a number of Human Rights Tribunals and develop
legal opinions for cases of police or military
torture. I also conducted research on the writs of
mandamus and possible methods to force the
government to comply with orders from the
Commission, which is currently a very big barrier
against victims receiving their rightful
compensation.
Apart from my work at FHRI, I really
enjoyed my time in Uganda in its entirety. On weekends I would often venture to other beautiful
parts of the country for activities such as hiking through game parks, white water rafting on the
Nile, and the relaxing on the nearby Lake Victoria islands. The whole experience was very
fulfilling and enlightening, and I am grateful to everyone that made it possible. I highly
recommend that all Osgoode students with an interest in gaining valuable experience in social
justice consider the possibility of an Ian Scott Fellowship.
By: Meghan Wilson
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James Yap, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2010
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: Prosecution of Child Prostitution Offenders and United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees
Before coming to law school, I worked for two years as a field consultant at a software
company. I was sent to work with clients all over Canada and the US, and on one occasion I was
sent to the Philippines. It was an incredible experience and I enjoyed it immensely – but at the
same time, I saw a lot of things that disturbed me. I was disturbed by the poverty and by the
pollution. I thought to myself that one day, I would like to return and work on some of the issues
that touched me deeply while I was there.
One of the things that particularly disturbed me while I was there was the problem of
child prostitution. So this summer, with the help of the Ian Scott Fellowship, I was able to travel
to the Philippines to provide legal support to a child protection agency. As early as the fall of first
year, seeing in the next summer a perfect opportunity to make good on my previous resolution, I
set out to put together my own public interest summer project in the Philippines. I made a
contact through a friend who referred me to the agency, and I made all the arrangements with
them myself.
My work there involved assisting in prosecutions of child prostitution offenders (private
prosecutors being allowed in the Philippines, the agency has a lawyer on staff who prosecutes
cases on behalf of victims), as well as helping to prepare draft national legislation on child
pornography – looking at existing foreign and international legislation on child pornography
worldwide and adapting it to a local context. I particularly cherished the opportunities I had to
work directly with the girls at the shelter. Initially I thought this aspect of the work would be a little
sad and sobering, but I did not realize what a refreshing and uplifting experience it would be to
bear witness to the resilience of the human spirit. I truly learned a lot. I got the opportunity to go
to court several times, and although I cannot venture much into the details of the cases,
because of the sensitive nature of the topic, I did take a picture outside one of the courtrooms.
However, this was not the only project I got involved with this summer. With the other half
of the summer, I went to Malaysia where I volunteered at the UNHCR (United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees). Perhaps as a result of my own immigrant background, I have
always taken a keen interest in the circumstances surrounding the patterns of international
movement and relocation of people. Working at UNHCR was another amazing experience as I
worked closely with refugees on a daily basis and heard some incredible and humbling stories. I
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worked in the Refugee Status Determination unit, which meant that much of the time I spent
interviewing refugee claimants and assessing their claims. However, I also worked on research
compiling a profile of the refugee case load as well as analyzing country of origin incident
reports looking for potential violations of international humanitarian law. This research will allow
the office to gain a better understanding of the people they are serving.
UNHCR also does support work for recognized refugees who have been arrested,
deported, robbed, or have had any other trouble with the authorities. I had the opportunity to get
involved with some of this work, and it was a very rewarding experience. UNHCR’s work in this
regard is particularly important because Malaysia is not a party to the 1951 UN Convention on
Refugees. This means that refugees recognized by the UNHCR have no legal status in
Malaysia, and thus they are very vulnerable. If they are caught by the authorities they can be
deported to their home countries at any time. Additionally, if they fall victim to crime or some
other form of abuse, there is a risk they will be deported if they report it. Because of the highly
vulnerable status of these refugees, the UNHCR in Malaysia maintains strict confidentiality rules
that prevent me from describing their stories or disclosing pictures of the refugees or the
UNHCR premises.
I am particularly grateful to the Ian Scott Public Interest Fellowship program because it
allowed me to set up and work on a project of my own design. It can be a little difficult to find
funding for a self-designed public interest project. Far more common are instances where
funding is advertised for an established project that has been set up by the host organization,
and they are just looking for a person to fill it. Although I am sure these are great projects and
great experiences, it is good that funding is also available to reward those who wish to take the
initiative to design their own program tailored to their specific needs.
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Stephanie Kam, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2011
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: Zambia AIDSLaw Research & Advocacy Network
Prior to the commencement of my legal studies, I was invited to conduct a progress assessment
of the University of Zambia’s HIV and AIDS Policy as a consultant. To say the least, my initial
experience in Zambia inspired me to apply to law school and forever changed my life.
In between reading cases and drafting case summaries in my first year at Osgoode Hall Law
School, I missed the warm and genuine smiles of Zambians and dreamed of spending the
summer after my first year applying my humble legal research and writing skill set in the area of
HIV/AIDS and human rights law. I created a list of potential public interest organizations in
Zambia that would provide me with practical legal research and writing experience and narrowed
it down to a non-governmental organization that housed a legal aid clinic. With the financial
support of the Ian Scott Public Interest Internship Program at Osgoode, I was able to assist the
Zambian AIDSLaw Research & Advocacy Network (ZARAN) in researching and advocating for
the rights of people living with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS in Zambia is of paramount concern with a prevalence rate of 15.2%, which is
significantly higher than the HIV prevalence rate of the sub-Saharan Africa region (5.0%) and
the global rate (0.8%). 1 Because AIDS is a disease that is primarily spread through unprotected
sex and currently has no cure, stigmatization is strongly associated with those who have or are
thought to have been infected with HIV. Therefore, limiting the discrimination of people living
with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS goes hand-in-hand with the fight in eradicating the global
epidemic.
ZARAN actively does research and advocacy work on pressing issues that involve HIV/AIDS,
human rights and the law. Some of their notable achievements include creating seminars for
legal practitioners, teachers and trade unions; writing reports in priority areas including
employment, health care and children’s
rights; publishing a quarterly newsletter
that is distributed throughout the country;
and setting up the AIDSLaw Clinic, a legal
aid clinic for people who are living with
and/or affected by HIV/AIDS.
The AIDSLaw Clinic provides free
information, negotiation, mediation and
litigation referrals. The clinic was originally
mandated to provide legal services to
people who have suffered discrimination in
their place of work based on their
actual/perceived HIV status. However, the
clinic has also taken up cases outside
workplace discrimination and has followed
up on key human right issues related to HIV/AIDS in the areas of land law, family law,
succession law, immigration law and public health law.
1 UNAIDS, 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, August 2008.
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The majority of my internship as the legal support officer to ZARAN’s AIDSLaw Clinic was spent
working on a case of a false cure claim for AIDS. The brother of a deceased sought the help of
ZARAN in the prosecution of a fake doctor who allegedly administered an injection of Tetrasil to
the deceased that was promised to purge the body of HIV in exchange for the sum of 6,000,000
ZMK (the equivalent of approximately 1,300 CAD). Tetrasil, scientifically referred to as
Tetrasilver Tetraoxide, is better known for its disinfectant qualities in the First World and is
sometimes used as a pesticide to clean swimming pools. The deceased had been taking antiretroviral
medication for two years following the initial diagnosis of HIV positivity but ceased the
life-prolonging medication following the accused’s advice upon receiving the injection. The
deceased died shortly ten months later.
Although the exact cause of death could be from the injection itself, the cessation of antiretroviral
therapy, a combination of both and/or an alternate cause, it remains unknown due to
the complexity of post-mortem reports of other patients who had received the injection
administered by the accused and financial constraints in digging up a buried body and putting it
under autopsy. Nevertheless, my self-directed research and interviews with key informants
revealed that the accused could be held liable in the import, distribution, advertising and
administration of a false cure claim for AIDS for breaching up to four different pieces of Zambian
legislation: the Pharmaceutical Act, the Food and Drugs Act, the Medical and Allied
Professionals Act, and the Penal Code.
Some of the people I was fortunate enough to interview on behalf of ZARAN in the investigation
of the prosecution of the accused include the Director of Clinical Care and Diagnostic Services
at the Ministry of Health, the Deputy Commissioner of Police for the Medical Directorate of the
Zambia Police Service, the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority, the Drug Enforcement
Commission and various legal advisors to ZARAN.
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In an effort to decrease the likelihood of this type of atrocious incidence from happening again
and to reiterate that there still remains no cure for AIDS, I also wrote an article on false cure
claims for ZARAN’s quarterly newsletter that was distributed throughout Zambia. False cure
claims are of particular concern as the right to one’s health is a fundamental human right.
Everyone has a right to attain the best possible state of health through the access to prevention
and treatment programs. When people living with HIV/AIDS fall victim to a false cure claims their
access to anti-retroviral drugs is compromised in the sense that they wilfully abandon taking their
medication as a result of their belief that they have been cured. This tragedy is exacerbated by
the fact that the some of these false cures contain allied substances that are harmful to the body
when ingested or injected. In this situation, people who have AIDS may be accelerating their
death as they already are living with a compromised immune system.
I am currently working on an opinion piece paper on behalf of ZARAN for the Human Rights
Committee of the National Constitution Conference as Zambia is currently amending its
Constitution. The paper will draw upon the international conventions that Zambia is a signatory
to, emphasis how stigma associated to AIDS is counterintuitive to the eradication of HIV, and
outline the pros and cons of inserting “health status” as a ground for discrimination in Article 23
of the Constitution of Zambia.
With such incredibly interesting and invaluable international experience gained from my summer
internship, I will be forever grateful for the generosity of the Ian Scott Public Interest Internship
Program. I highly recommend this program for any student that is independent, a self-starter,
and interested in spending their summer working in a social justice-related field.
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Swathi Sekhar, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2011
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: Looking at the Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of Prisoners in Malawi
I remember my first week in Malawi as one of a) nerves, and b) feeling like I had
something to prove. I felt like an intruder; who was I, this law student from Canada, to come to a
different country and culture and look at serious issues that I knew very little about, and that
other people have devoted their entire lives to?? I knew that to get the most out of this
experience I would need to place myself in a position of learning from others rather than trying to
see what I could contribute from the outset. I think this served me well.
I had the wonderful privilege of working with MANASO, the Malawi Network of AIDS
organizations, out of their Blantyre office. The primary function of MANASO is as a resource tool
for local community based organizations (CBOs). Member CBOs have access to the resource
center which carries books and other tools regarding HIV/AIDS, health, fundraising and other
useful information. MANASO also conducts free workshops for CBOs, on issues such as
resource mobilization, strategic planning and advocacy. I was incredibly drawn to MANASO
because of this focus on grassroots empowerment.
Nonetheless the first couple of weeks were challenging. My project was set up as the
legal research component of an ongoing, four year project that MANASO is undertaking. My
research originally involved looking at the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) rights of three
vulnerable communities in Malawi: commercial sex workers, rural youth and prisoners. It soon
became clear however that this was an insanely ambitious project for a three month period of
time (or even 30 years if you ask me!) The research I had done up to that point indicated a real
need to examine prisoner’s issues in Malawi, so I decided to switch my focus to this group in
particular.
But first I had to overcome my minor inferiority complex. I decided that I needed to really
educate myself about on-the-ground realities. I started engaging with local organizations that
were already working with prisoners to try to get my footing and learn where to start. I met some
unbelievably dedicated people who are truly committed to their work, against all odds. One of
the people I met worked with a group that was educating men and women in prison, and when I
told her about my research, she suggested that I come to prison with her to talk to some of the
inmates. These were undoubtedly some of my most valuable experiences. I visited only one
prison, but I went back several times, and learned a great deal about human rights issues and
needs on the ground.
17

In Malawi, like most low-income countries with limited resources, prisons tend to fall fairly
low on the list of government priorities. There is virtually no legal representation or legal aid.
Most prisoners are on remand, and have been incarcerated for 5 or 6 years, without ever going
to trial. I spoke to many women who had been sentenced to several years for trying to defend
themselves against abusive partners, but they did not know how to plead self-defence. Many
prisoners had not even heard of bail. Extreme overcrowding also results in food shortages and
many health issues, particularly HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and hepatitis.
One issue that is extremely prevalent in Malawi prisons is the spread of HIV/AIDS
through men having sex with men (MSM). Homosexual activity is explicitly illegal and culturally
unacceptable in Malawi. I found only one organization in the entire country that was working with
the MSM population, and they were forced to maintain a very low profile. Though this is very
slowly changing, the official prison line is still that MSM activity is not occurring. This is naturally
problematic for prevention, as it is believed by many that condom distribution will condone MSM
activity. But this is a serious issue that is most certainly contributing to the rapid spread of
HIV/AIDS in prisons, and it must be addressed. One prisoner whom I interviewed in particular
was courageous and open enough to discuss these issues with me on several occasions,
despite the personal risk this posed for him if we were overheard. I am very grateful to him.
Going to the prison was a bittersweet experience. At times I was so overwhelmed by all
the need, and I felt deeply frustrated at my inability to do anything more tangible to help. But I
had to recognize that the fight for prisoner’s rights, like most battles, is an ongoing struggle. We
have to start somewhere, and I hope to use my experiences in Malawi to foster positive change
in the future.
My project culminated in the compilation of all my research findings into a resource tool
for MANASO, to be distributed to CBOs working with the prison population. This document set
out the legal rights of prisoners, how they are protected by both national and international
legislation, what this means in practice, and how to advocate on behalf of this vulnerable group.
Though I wish I could have continued with my research, I felt happy with this output, and I feel
that this minor contribution may be able to help others in the future.
Malawi is a beautiful country, full of generous, open and incredibly kind people. The Ian
Scott Fellowship gave me the once in a lifetime opportunity to discover this country while
carrying out my own research initiative. This summer I had the chance to travel, learn, teach,
laugh and listen. The Ian Scott Fellowship is a unique opportunity available to Osgoode
students, and I would strongly encourage anyone who is interested to go for it!!
18

Christopher Kim, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2011
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: Office for Refugees, Archdiocese of Toronto (ORAT)
The Office for Refugees of the Archdiocese of Toronto (ORAT) is a small satellite
department of the Archdiocese manned by five fulltime staff members and a handful of
volunteers. The mandate of ORAT is to facilitate the “Private Sponsorship of Refugees
Agreement” that the Archdiocese of Toronto holds with the Federal Government (Citizenship and
Immigration Canada). Through the agreement, ORAT is able to directly resettle those refugees
that have fled their home countries and have found themselves in countries of asylum, albeit
without durable solutions. With the help of the Ian Scott Fellowship, I was able to devote all 4
months of my summer to an ORAT internship. The summer experience can be roughly split up
into three segments, each of which had a unique primary objective described as follows: (1)
learning the functions of a fulltime ORAT staff member; (2) the “Remedies Project”; and (3) the
“National Initiative” and sponsorship of Iraqi refugees. The following paragraphs will flesh out
my experiences in each of the three segments.
ORAT handles roughly 350 cases per year and is directly involved with the resettlement
of around 100 refugees per year. Due to the lack of manpower, each staff member has been
trained to perform specialized tasks that were originally assigned to other members. The first
month of my internship was accordingly dedicated towards learning the daily and specialized
functions required of each staff member; among these included casework management,
outreach to potential sponsors, client in-take and interviewing, the drafting of memos and official
ORAT forms, and an assortment of administrative duties.
As an ongoing project throughout the summer, I spearheaded the “Remedies for
Rejection of Overseas Applications” project. The rationale behind this project is simply that
overseas refugees and their domestic sponsors rarely ever know what remedies (legal and
otherwise) are available to them once an application is rejected. This project, which is still in
19

works, is focused on compiling all available remedies into an easy-to-use-and-understand
manual.
A month into the internship, ORAT’s short-term focus was unexpectedly shifted when the
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration called on private Canadians to assist in the sponsorship
of Iraqi refugees stranded in Syria. Once the Archdiocese accepted this call, ORAT’s overall
focus in the latter three months of summer was strictly narrowed to outreach efforts in order to
induce sponsorship participation from all Canadian faith communities, but primarily from the
greater Toronto area Catholic community. The entire ordeal was named the “National Initiative.”
The 250 parishes in Toronto were divvied up amongst the staff members with the result of my
being assigned to the Western Zone which extended as far as Orangeville! My specific duties
during this segment included contacting the 70 parishes within my zone, scheduling and
attending meetings and information sessions, attempting to convince parishioners to sponsor
refugees, and finally the creation of an online database from which all staff members could view
refugee profiles forwarded to us from our director who was operating a refugee screening
process in Syria.
Reflecting back, this intense summer is perhaps best summed by reference to the
immortal words of rapper Jay-Z – “can’t knock the hustle.” Indeed, by the season’s end, I could
sufficiently carry out the tasks of all other staff members and had finished a rough draft of the
“Remedies” manual. Moreover, on account of the “National Initiative,” I had logged nearly 2000
km of driving, contacted 68 parishes, met in-person with the majority of them, and received
roughly 20 firm commitments to sponsor, with the majority of the remaining ones agreeing at
least to assist in some other way (through financials, donations, or volunteering hours). It was a
strenuous season to say the least, but the results arising from our efforts redeemed the
countless hours that were put in. As a final word, I would like to express sincere gratitude to the
Ian Scott Public Interest Fellowship program for making my summer experience possible and I
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would wholeheartedly recommend self-motivated student-hustlers to likewise pursue rare
opportunities made possible by it!
21

Costanza Pauchulo, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2012
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: ECPAT, Phillipines
This summer I, and my partner Erin Dunsmore, spent three months in Manila working for
the Philippine branch of an international organization called “End Child Prostitution, Child
Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes” (ECPAT). The main projects
of ECPAT Philippines include advocacy for legal reform, community awareness campaigns and
the promotion of youth participation programs. These projects focus on addressing the
commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the Philippines. This includes advocating
for preventative and deterrent measures at national, regional and international levels as well as
developing partnerships with government officials and other civil society members. ECPAT
Philippines also runs a temporary shelter, known as the “ECPAT Home”, for girls and boys who
have been victims of CSEC. The shelter provides access to legal counsel, social workers,
education and community involvement activities.
A recent accomplishment for ECPAT was the passing Republic Act 9775, the Anit-Child
Pornography Act, in November 2009. ECPAT actively lobbied for the passage of this act which
lays out new and stricter guidelines regarding the possession and distribution of child
pornography in the Philippines. This bill will enable Philippine Law Enforcement to aid children
by instituting penalties against those who circulate damaging and illegal pornographic materials,
and represents a significant step towards positive change.
Our Summer Internship
Our main project throughout the summer focused on the city of Puerto Princesa on the
island of Palawan. This city was chosen because of its growing tourism industry. There is a
concern on the part of ECPAT, as well as some of those living within Puerto Princesa, that this
increase will be accompanied by an increase in the prevalence of child sexual exploitation. Our
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task was to conduct a sociological analysis of the state of child protection laws and programs in
the city and to assess the general attitudes of city officials and non-governmental organization
(NGO) representatives on the issue of CSEC within their city. We began our project by
conducting general background research into the problem of CSEC in Southeast Asia. We then
studied international instruments such as, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child, as well as Philippine laws on child protection. The Philippines has some of the strongest
and comprehensive child protection laws in the region; however, there a problems with
enforcement and implementation of the social programs outlined by these laws.
After completing this research, we traveled to Puerto Princesa for one week where we
conducted approximately fifteen interviews with city officials from various departments as well as
one interview with the representative of a local NGO. After reviewing and compiling our data for
our report, our final conclusion was that although, at present, the problem of child sex tourism is
perceived to be minimal within the City, several risk factors exist that may exacerbate the
problem as tourism increases. These factors include poverty, rapid increase in migration and
population growth, lack of data or monitoring of current incidences of child prostitution or
pornography, lack of resources to fully implement social programs, minimal awareness or
recognition of the potential problem, and lack of employment.
In addition to this project, we also participated in community awareness seminars in
Manila and on the island of Boracay, assisted with fundraising initiatives, attended court
hearings and conducted legal research in the areas of criminal procedure and constitutional law.
We also went on a weekend retreat with our co-workers and the girls living in the ECPAT Home
to a rural area near Manila. This retreat provided an unforgettable opportunity to gain a broader
perspective on Filipino life and culture and to build stronger relationships with the people at
ECPAT.
23

Reflections and Looking Forward
Looking back on our placement, it is not really the details of our work that I am drawn to
(though much of it was very interesting and rewarding) but the small moments between our coworkers
or the girls living in the ECPAT Home. The times around the kitchen table or the
informal conversations in the office are where I feel that I learned the most and, perhaps most
importantly, were the events that truly shaped my internship.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ian Scott Public Interest Program.
Without this grant I would not have been able to pursue my internship at ECPAT and gain
invaluable insight into public interest advocacy and lawyering. I know that the lessons and
memories that I have from my summer in Manila will carry with me throughout my professional
and personal life.
24

Tessa Crosby, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2013
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: Nunavut Department of Justice, Iqaluit, Canada
By receiving the Ian Scott Public Interest Internship Award I was able to work as a summer law
student with the Nunavut Department of Justice in Iqaluit. I was placed in the Policy and
Planning Division but also did projects for Legal and Constitutional Division as well as the
Directorate. One of the many challenges currently facing Nunavut is its lack of human resources
capacity. Only approximately 25% of Nunavummiut graduate high school and the competition for
graduates between the many governmental departments, Inuit organizations and private
enterprises is fierce. The result is that the Nunavut Department of Justice (like many
organizations in the territory) is understaffed, particularly with respect to positions requiring
advanced degrees. Unfortunate though it is, this situation gave me an unparalleled opportunity
to take on challenging, interesting work. My projects included:
• Conducting phone interviews with Civil Forfeiture Directors from across Canada to solicit
recommendations for Nunavut’s proposed civil forfeiture legislation.
• Conducting a review of civil forfeiture jurisprudence from across Canada in order to
understand how Nunavut’s proposed act is likely to be applied, and making suggestions
for legislative drafting in order to minimize the negative effects.
• Legal research and writing for the preparation of ministerial briefing notes
• Providing simultaneous English to French oral translation at a reception hosted by the
Department during the Federal-Territorial-Provincial Deputy Justice Ministers meeting in
Iqaluit
• Written translation (English to French) for intra-departmental materials
• Reviewing a draft will kit designed to address the urgent problem of most Nunavummiut
dying intestate and writing a plain language step by step guide to completing it
• Reviewing and compiling a binder of reports filed by the Nunavut Human Rights Tribunal
• Attending the Nunavut Association of Municipalities meeting in Rankin Inlet and
compiling answers to questions posed to the Deputy Justice Minister on her behalf.
• Creating a line by line summary of the proposed Family Support Order Enforcement Act for
tabling at the summer legislative sitting.
With respect to my career, the internship was an unparalleled success; not only did I take on
responsibilities far greater than an average 1L in the southern provinces, but I met and was
mentored by such high ranking officials as the Nunavut Minister of Justice, the Deputy Justice
Minister and Divisional Directors. Their inspiring examples have shaped my understanding of the
legal profession and its responsibility towards the public.
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The Ian Scott Fellowship allowed me to make a valuable contribution to my employer, the
Nunavut Department of Justice. In addition to my energy and enthusiasm, I have research,
writing and analysis skills which are relatively rare in the territory. By applying them even to
relatively simple tasks I was able to ease the workload of the regular employees. Although not
strictly law-related, I also undertook several translation assignments, thereby saving the
Department the high cost and long timeline of working with an external translator.
Nunavut is probably the Canadian jurisdiction most in need of innovative law making, yet due to
its human resource difficulties it is ill-equipped to generate them. There have been a number of
ideas generated which haven’t been followed up on simply because there is no employee with
the skills or time to do so. My work on civil forfeiture is a good example of this. The possibility of
introducing civil forfeiture as a tool to combat the territory’s powerful bootlegging network was
conceived of years ago, but no action had been taken on it prior to my arrival because there was
no one able to do it. It was a privilege to contribute to such an important project.
I am writing a supervised independent research paper for credit based on primary research
(semi-structured interviews) I conducted while in Iqaluit. The topic of the paper is the
consultation process which occurred prior to the creation of Nunavut’s Family Abuse Intervention
Act. In addition to converging with my personal interest in women’s issues, this topic is of clear
and urgent relevance to Nunavut communities which face the worst rates of domestic violence in
Canada. It is a privilege to be able to make my own small contribution to the field, and one which
I could not have made had I not spent time in the territory on the Ian Scott Fellowship.
26

Iqaluit in July
Sylvia Grinnel River
Dogsledding in June
27

Walking across the ice, May
Rankin Inlet, May
28

Iqaluit, June
29

Jon O’Kane, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2013
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), Kampala, Uganda
The Ian Scott Public Interest Fellowship has redirected my life’s trajectory, for the better. This
past summer, I worked as a legal research intern the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative
(FHRI) in Kampala, Uganda. I came to Osgoode to explore the many facets of what a career in
social justice could be and this opportunity finally gave me the chance to see hands on what
lawyering internationally can be like.
My project highlighted how quickly the needs of third world NGOs can change. Initially, I had
prepared to work with FHRI drafting a report on their national election of February 2011, auditing
how consistently it complied with domestic and international standards. Instead, my project
transformed into a broader assessment of the state of the right to fair trial in Uganda. The FHRI
produces two research reports annually, each focusing on a rights assessment for one aspect of
the country. I was given incredible flexibility in designing the framework, researching the
content, and then writing the first copy of the document. To do this, I worked primarily with
another intern, with a support network of the entire NGO. The fair trial report, although aimed at
providing recommendations to government actors to implement change, was more generally
written for an audience of local and international groups which would benefit from the compiled
information, interviews, and recommendations.
Therefore, I began my summer experience by doing statutory analysis of the current state of the
law itself. I am now delightfully familiar with the Ugandan Trial and Indictments Act and Prisons
Act, for example. With a modern Constitution first introduced in 1995, there were still some
inconsistencies between legislation and the Constitution that began the basis of my
recommendations for areas of public interest litigation.
Once the legislation and case law had been reviewed, the analysis turned to measuring how the
current state of the law was being implemented in practice. More pressingly, we wanted to
determine why practice may be inconsistent with law and provide recommendations to remedy it.
At was at this point that my internship became fascinating. I set off to explore the real, on the
ground pace of Uganda and met with countless stakeholders across the justice sector. The
initial research was carried out in Kampala, where I interviewed state attorneys, inspected police
stations and prisons, and met with police officers and suspects. I saw vastly different normative
framework about the role of policing and prisons than both in Canada and even the Uganda
legislation. The challenges faced were a blend of attitudinal approaches to crime and resources
problems being spread across the country. What drew me into my work so quickly was how
surprised I was that myself and another international intern could adapt to the frame of reference
of the Ugandan system and parse our way through the challenges to get to the root of some
issues.
The urban situation, with respect to fair trial, was just one depiction of the justice system. My
partner and I proposed we travel to rural regions and carry out similar assessments to compare.
FHRI warmly endorsed the idea and I travelled to Northern Uganda, where research had been
minimal in wake of the 20-year civil war which had ended only two years ago. I didn’t know what
to expect, but after a few bus rides, a tightly packed taxi, and four hours on the back of a truck, I
30

was able to take in several rural towns to meet with people on the ground.
Although I found Kampalan interviews to have a somewhat adversarial tone, the case was much
the opposite in the North. In the post-war zones, police and prison staff seems very cooperative
to work with NGOs like ours to take part in the rebuilding process. To inspect a prison, I would
need government permission to meet with convicts and those on remand awaiting trial. Maybe it
was a sense of feeling welcome, or over-ambition after a week in the North doing motivating
work, but near the end of my trip I would speak with prison staff, acknowledge I had no formal
permission, but be allowed to walk inside regardless. This was all part of the community
approach to work together to identify and solve problems in the justice sector and why my time
in rural Uganda was the best part of my fellowship.
Upon returning to Kampala, I pieced together my research and worked to do some final
interviews in the city. One of which was an entertaining meeting with a military lieutenant on the
topic of the Court Martial system. For the most part, I spent my final few weeks actually writing
the report, assessing every step from arrest to sentencing. The predominant issue I focused on
was why prisoners overstay on their remand periods, locked in prison awaiting trials often for
years before seeing a judge to be convicted or released. The fun came in the recommendations
– why is the system this way? The recommendations ranged from the practical (such as how
Kitgum prison needed a lightning rod because too many prisoners were being struck by
lightning) to the more subtle.
For example, youth in the Northern town of Lira were being released by judges because there
were no juvenile remand homes. This led to youth being recycled in the criminal process, being
hired by locals to do crimes for them, knowing they would not be put away. As it turns out, this
was because the prison was located in one town, but represented a region of smaller
communities. Remand homes were funded by the community they were in, and no community
wanted to pay for the entirety of a parallel remand home for Lira prison. I drafted a cost-sharing
model for the district as a recommendation to circumvent the problem.
Overall, this summer opened my eyes to the practical challenges and excitement of lawyering
abroad. I cannot thank the Ian Scott Public Interest Fellowship enough for the chance to see the
world and shake up my approach to working within it. My life, and career, have much to thank
for the opportunity.
31

Sarah Colgrove, Osgoode Hall Law School, Class 2013
Recipient of funding through the Ian Scott Public Internship Program
Report: Restorative Justice and Legal Advocacy program, Old Masset, Haida Gwaii
My 11-week placement was at a Restorative Justice and Legal Advocacy program in Old
Masset, a reserve town on the northern tip of Haida Gwaii, just south of Alaska. I went because I
was interested in restorative justice, which is a term used to describe a range of approaches to
corrections that provide an alternative to the legal system, emphasizing healing rather than
punishment. Most indigenous communities world-wide have justice systems that could loosely
be described as “restorative.” Typically, they rely upon collective participation and cultural
practices as opposed to the application of a code, and aim to heal victims and bring offenders
back into a community rather than to punish.
The Masset program is a small one. It deals largely with referrals from the RCMP or crown
aimed at rehabilitating individual small-scale offenders and keeping them out of the justice
system. Elizabeth, who runs it, spends half of her week doing that, and the other half working on
“legal advocacy” - reaching out to the community and serving as a touch point for the legal
system because, since the islands are so remote, there aren’t any legal services at all. She was
very glad to have me there to help her out this summer. Together we accomplished so much,
however, that I think she was also secretly glad to see me go, in August, so that she could take
a breather from our pace!
For the restorative justice program, I helped her work with individual clients to identify and
facilitate tasks that could lead towards healing for themselves and the community. I don’t know if
it is more a characteristic of the Haida culture or her own philosophy, but Elizabeth’s approach to
restoration was one that, for all the reading I’ve done, I did not expect: she tended to look at
where the person was at and how they could connect to the community in affirming ways, rather
than how they could make better what they had done wrong. There was the odd dictated letter of
apology to take down, but much more work to be done keeping people accountable to their art
projects and food-gathering assignments – there was even a drum-making summer camp that
one young offender held for eight youth in the community, in lieu of a harsher court sentence.
Additionally, towards the end of summer, I began working on a large court-mandated “circle” that
was to be held for a community member who had been convicted of a more serious offense and
had received it as part of his sentence. It was the largest, most difficult, and most involving
project of my placement. I attended RCMP training program on Sentencing Circles in
Vancouver, and then attempted to apply its principles in a loose and culturally-appropriate
manner to catalyze a circle that, paradoxically, wasn’t about sentencing at all: the sentence had
already been handed down in court; the judge hoped it would be about making peace, I guess.
As part of this process, I undertook to interview around two dozen interested parties about the
impact of the offender’s type of behaviour on their lives and the meaning of justice for their
community.
I was both apprehensive and excited about witnessing and facilitating a process by which the
community could, if not take control of its own justice system, at least acknowledge and discuss
problems and solutions. Unfortunately, however, the week before it was to happen, “the fish
came in:” everything stopped for the food-gatherers who rely on the salmon runs for year-round
nutrition, as for the offender, whose charter operation offered him a few weeks of work in a place
32

with 80 per cent unemployment. As a result, the circle was postponed until October. I felt strange
leaving it unresolved, having opened up so many difficult issues with so many people. I can only
hope the discussions we had helps the process when it does occur.
Working for the legal advocacy program, I handled individual queries about, for example,
divorces and human rights complaints, found application forms online, and helped people fill
them out. As a separate project, Elizabeth had me draft a grant proposal that brought in
$10,000 towards community planning for a potential project that would lower the risk of
community youth succumbing to mental illness or addiction. We also pulled together two very
well-attended information sessions for the community.
One featured Sharon McIvor of the BCCA 2009 McIvor decision, which established that the
allocation of Indian Status is still sexist and unconstitutional. The government’s response, Bill C-
3 (a long-delayed and largely inadequate remedy), was passed just this year, and McIvor visited
both Haida communities on the islands to discuss her work, the case, and the changes to the
legislation, which open up “status” to an estimated 40,000 new people. At the end of the
session, a number of attendees took applications for themselves or their friends and family, and
we had some calls for more, later in the month, as word got around.
For the other event, we brought in an officer from Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC) to give a
workshop on estate planning for on-reserve Indians. Due to relatively low Western education
levels, low-level literacy, lack of legal or INAC representatives on-island, and the complexities of
communally-held land, the meeting quickly became a discussion about the very similar problems
attendees had encountered in their own families. The INAC officer was busy all week meeting
with individual families about their concerns and complaints.
I went to Haida Gwaii for restorative justice and was privileged to participate in its workings, but
it was not what ended up shaping me the most. The majority of the work I did in Haida Gwaii
was, basically, community work. It often involved going to church lunches, knocking on people’s
doors, hunting down itinerate clients on street corners, and trying to understand and fit into the
community. It was sometimes hard, but it was this Haida community that really got inside of me:
I found folding myself into another-of-being and winning people over to be an absorbing project.
I found the culture of harvesting from the wild healing, and the First Nations context, I guess
you’d say, compelling. This is work I would like to do again.
I was very fortunate to obtain the funding to work in the community this summer, and also to
accumulate the experience that I did on a personal level. Haida Gwaii – as everyone there says
– is a special place: rainforest, mountain, muskeg and beach sprawl in the North Pacific beneath
low, cloudy skies. Connections to the land are personal, communities are resilient, ancient
practices are on the rise. Time moves differently there, and the tide washes in all sorts of
interesting, eclectic folk. I ended up living in a hut on a beach facing Alaska for nine weeks
without water or power, and arrived at the conviction that oral histories are right: there, at least,
the earth is alive. You can feel it.
33

Application Form for Ian Scott Public Interest Internship Program
Please fill in and return this form to the Career Development Office, Suite 1012, by 4pm on Thursday,
March 1, 2012.
1) Contact Information:
Name:
Student Number:
Address:
Phone Number:
Email:
2) Eligibility:
What year will you graduate?
Are you a Canadian citizen/permanent resident and a resident of Ontario?
Yes
No
How many weeks will you be working full-time for the organization? __________
Is your work unpaid, or underpaid? Yes No
If underpaid, please estimate how much you will earn working for the organization: __________
Do you have a significant debt load? Yes No
-If so, what is your total debt to date?
$_________
Have you received OSAP this year? Yes No
Do you have a student line of credit in place? Yes No
-If so, what amount remains on your student line of credit?
$________
Did you receive a bursary from Osgoode this year? Yes No
-If so, what is the total amount for this year?
$________
Have you secured your articling placement? Yes No
34

3) Statement of Commitment (250 words maximum):
Describe your interest in social justice and any relevant prior experience including: past employment (law
or non-law), volunteer positions, courses, extra-curricular activities and/or publications. If you have not
had the opportunity to demonstrate your interest in social justice, please explain why you are currently
interested in this particular project.
4) Project Details:
4a) What is the name of the firm/office/organization? (Please provide address, phone number and
website)
4b) Explain why you consider this to be social justice practice:
4c) What is the name of the person who will be supervising your work? (Please provide phone number
and email address)
4d) Internship Proposal (750 words maximum)
Please describe your proposed project by answering the following questions, and providing any additional
information you consider relevant.
• What social or legal issues will you consider?
• Why are these issues important?
• How will your work address these issues?
• What kinds of contribution do you feel you can make to the host organization or institution?
• What do you hope to take away from the experience?
• Will you be conducting research involving human participants?
5) Letter of Support
Please submit a letter of support for your proposal from the host organization (200 words maximum). The
letter of support should confirm the project, the weeks of full-time work, and whether you are unpaid or
underpaid.
Application Checklist:
__ Resume
__ Transcripts
__ Application form
__ Statement of Commitment
__ Internship proposal (description of project)
__ Supporting letter from organization
The committee will review applications, and a final decision will be announced mid to late-March.
Please note: students will be selected on the basis of their proposal, their demonstrated commitment to
social justice; extra-curricular and volunteer experiences; academic performance; and financial need.
Submit three copies of your completed application to the Career Development Office, Suite 1012, to the
attention of Mya Bulwa, by 4:00 pm on Thursday, March 2, 2012.
35