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

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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