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LAW WEEK
Love It or Hate It, It’s Time to Join the Discussion
WINDSOR LAW GRADUATES LAUNCH HIGH-PROFILE CHARTER EDUCATIONAL PROJECT
As millions today around the world are protesting for basic
freedoms, on April 17, 2012, Canadians will mark 30 years
with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a document which
seeks to guarantee fundamental human rights, from speech,
to religion, to association.
discussion about rights without the fear of being persecuted.
We’re having a discussion in an open forum in Canada,
while at the same time, other people around the world are
killed for their beliefs,” says Byron Pascoe, The Charter
Project Co-Founder and Co-Chair. “Along with rights come
responsibilities. As students privileged to
study the law, we have a responsibility to play
an active role in ensuring that all members of
our community at large have access to justice,
including education of the law.”
The Charter Project team has produced Public
Service Announcement videos starring
Canadian celebrities, such as Rick Mercer,
Howie Mandel, Kristen Kreuk, Hayley
Wickenheiser, Rick Hansen, Paul Gross, Sitara
Hewitt, Alex Trebek, Mike Holmes, Sarah
Slean, Ron James, Vanessa Lengies, Alexz
Johnson, Nazanin Afshin-Jam Mackay, Jill
Barber, Wide Mouth Mason, Adamo Ruggiero,
Elvira Kurt, Serena Ryder and Kreesha Turner.
These PSAs will be distributed across Canada
on TV, in Cineplex theatres, and online, etc.
At the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law, the Class of
2012 realized that their graduation coincided with the
Charter’s 30th anniversary and decided to do something to
recognize it.
The Charter Project is a nationwide educational and public
awareness campaign with a goal to involve Canadians in a
dialogue about their rights and freedoms. The ever-evolving
Charter has an impact on every one of us. The Charter’s
anniversary is a great time to recognize that - as a nation -
we have achievements to celebrate, failures to address, and
questions to ask about our Charter thirty years later.
“Canada is the best country in the world to live in for many
reasons, including the fact that we can have an open
The students have also filmed interviews of
legal experts with diverse opinions about the Charter, such as
Supreme Court judges, politicians involved in the drafting of
the Charter, rights advocacy lawyers, and law professors.
These interviews will also be available on
www.JoinTheDiscussion.ca, inviting people to comment in
the forums and spark discussion.
“It’s not often that legal education takes a viral or multimedia
form. From the beginning we wanted to educate and
engage people, so we thought: why not entertain them at the
same time? The public consumes information on multimedia
platforms and in interactive ways. We wanted to
make Charter education as accessible and user-friendly as we
could,” says The Charter Project Co-Founder and Co-Chair
Michael O’Brien.