Public Legal Education

23Sep13

Admittedly public legal education is a unknown territory for me as I worked in a law firm library. But being an information person, all areas that touch upon law interest me. Lois Gander of the Centre for Public Legal Education in Alberta describes it as:

Deeply rooted in the access to justice movement in Canada, public legal education plays a critical role in ensuring that our laws and legal processes serve the needs of everyone, not just a privileged few.

There is both an advocacy role for marginalized groups, as well as the aspect of dissemination of information to the lay person in order to navigate the legal system. The law affects us from birth to death, and hopefully you and I will always be on the right side of it. When I was born, my birth was registered with provincial Vital Statistics department as per the law. Then my parents got a birth certificate. But my mom does not have such a document as she was born in a different country with different laws. And there are many other mundane examples from there.

A shout out to Shaunna Mireau for connecting with the Centre for Public Legal Education in Alberta, and there is a current job posting for the Executive Director. In Saskatchewan, there are some general resources and teaching resources for elementary and high school students.

Just recently I talked about different landlord tenant situation in different provinces casually with a friend. My sense is that this is a huge and growing area as people come into conflict or just need help navigating the system. As an optimist, I wish the new Director in Alberta the best of luck. New beginnings are an exciting adventure.

– Brenda