Letter to CARL members

Dear CARL members,

CARL’s inaugural meeting on September 9, 2011 saw the creation of an exciting new organization of refugee lawyers and academics, all of whom work tirelessly to advocate on behalf of refugees and migrants. Over the past month, the executive has met regularly to organize itself and move forward on key advocacy initiatives.

We are pleased to report that CARL is now incorporated, having received its letters patent on September 26, 2011. The executive is organized as follows:

President: Lorne Waldman
Vice-President: Mitchell Goldberg
Treasurer: Lisa Couillard
Secretary: Aviva Basman
Advocacy Committee Co-Chairs: Peter Showler and Caitlin Maxwell
Legal Research Committee Co-Chairs: Audrey Macklin, Donald Galloway and Pia Zambelli
Resource Committee Co-Chairs: Lisa Couillard and Richard Bennett
Members-at-large: Jennifer Bond, Lesley Stalker

One of CARL’s first initiatives was to bring a motion to intervene in the Supreme Court of Canada in a case where the central issue is public interest standing. (Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence v. Canada (AG)). Donald Galloway’s presentation at CARL’s first meeting highlighted the importance of this issue to CARL’s ability to challenge C-4 once it comes into force. Working with the Canadian Council for Refugees, CARL submitted its intervention motion on September 30, 2011. Leave to intervene has not yet been decided.

As Bill C-4 winds its way through parliament, CARL’s Legal Research Committee has developed a paper on its unconstitutionality, a draft of which is attached. The Advocacy Committee is currently working to ensure that CARL’s position on this bill is presented to the Parliamentary Committee on C-4.

While the executive has built on the momentum created at CARL’s inaugural meeting, there is much more work to do. We are calling on all members to become involved in several ongoing projects.

1. Mentorship Program: The Resource Committee is developing a mentorship program, which will pair new refugee lawyers with our more experienced colleagues in order to ensure high quality legal advocacy for our clients. Mentors will be encouraged to share precedents and guide new lawyers as they develop their practice. If you are interested in either being mentored or becoming a mentor, please contact either Richard Bennett (rbennett@legalaid.ab.ca) or Lisa Couillard (lcouillard@caronpartners.com).

2. Legal Research Committee: The work of this committee is multifaceted. It intends to provide research and resource support for interventions and legal challenges; disseminate information to the membership on international and national developments; and assemble research on relevant issues to be published on CARL’s website. The committee’s tasks will continue to grow and develop. If you would like to be involved, please contact co-chairs Audrey Macklin (audrey.macklin@utoronto.ca), Donald Galloway (galloway@uvic.ca) or Pia Zambelli (zambelli@videotron.ca).

3. The Advocacy Committee will focus its efforts on public advocacy and information as well as law reform. It will develop key and consistent messaging, coordinate advocacy efforts before parliament and the public and coordinate media relations. The committee is looking for CARL members to join the committee as members as well as people who are interested in working on a single issue. Members with media experience are of particular interest. We are in immediate need of people who wish to get engaged in the Bill C-4 campaign. To become involved in this committee’s work, please contact co-chairs Peter Showler (pshowler@uottawa.ca) or Caitlin Maxwell (cmaxwell@bjackman.com)

4. CBSA oversight project: As many of you are no doubt aware, the need for CBSA oversight is becoming a pressing issue. CARL intends to advocate for CBSA oversight and, to that end, is inviting all members to send in their experiences of CBSA’s excesses and abuses of authority. We encourage you to send in as much detail as you can without breaching solicitor-client privilege. Please direct your emails to Lisa Couillard (lcouillard@caronpartners.com) or Lesley Stalker (Lesley@naomiminwalla.com)

5. Website: CARL is in the process of developing its website, which should be up and running in the next few days. It will require a person, or a group of people, to administer. If you are interested in this project, please contact Mitch Goldberg (mitchell.goldberg@gmail.com).

We are facing a challenging time for refugees, immigrants and their advocates. It is imperative that we all continue to build on the energy of our first meeting and the work currently underway. We look forward to your involvement in the projects and/or committees that most interest you.

Yours very truly,

CARL executive