Monday, October 27 12:00 pm CT – 1:30 pm CT
Through the discussion of real-world based scenarios, this panel of experts with legal and/or accessibility experience, will provide suggestions on how lawyers could and should provide accessible legal services. This session will take place over Zoom webinar and will have simultaneous ASL translation.
Moderator:
Janell Jackson (Moderator), Law student, University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law & MBA Equality Section Co-Chair
Janell Jackson is a third year law student at the University of Manitoba, holding a bachelor of Arts Degree with a double major in Indigenous Studies and Canadian History. Janell grew up in the Traditional Territory of Treaty Eight in North Eastern British Columbia. As a former band councillor of Saulteau First Nation, Janell’s focus is grounded by Indigenous Legal Orders which has lead to much of her success.
Panelists:
Darrin Davis, Director Legal Services Branch
In January 2024 I was appointed into the role of the Director of the Legal Services Branch at Manitoba Justice. Before that I was a manager and practitioner with Justice Canada for 32 years. Since my call to the Bar in 1991 my practice has included federal prosecutions, constitutional law, aboriginal litigation, civil litigation and management. I was the co-chair of the Deputy Minister’s Advisory Committee of Persons with Disabilities at Justice Canada for 5 years. From 2017 until 2023 I worked with a colleague to develop a project that bought high-school students with intellectual disabilities into federal workspaces. We built partnerships with participating school boards in 5 Provinces and 12 federal Departments. This included identifying barriers to recruitment, training and feedback and finding solutions that could be implemented within the structure of the federal public service and the various public education systems.
In the community, I am a passionate volunteer for Breakthrough T1D and its efforts to raise funds for a cure for diabetes and advocacy to improve awareness and the lives of people living with Type 1 diabetes. In 2023, I joined the Manitoba Bar Association Council and the Public Sectors Lawyers Executive. I am also a mentor with the Lawyer Strong Program.
Most importantly, I am the proud father of three smart, strong and beautiful young women and an ongoing labour of love for my smarter, stronger and more beautiful wife.
Laurelle Harris, K.C., University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law
Laurelle A. Harris, K.C. (she/her) currently serves as the Director of the Internationally Trained Lawyer Program, Equity & Transformation at Robson Hall. She holds a B.A. (Women’s Studies, History) and has undertaken graduate studies in Women’s Studies and Black Studies at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Laurelle earned her law degree in 2001 at Robson Hall and is an experienced litigator with formal training in mediation, arbitration and conflict resolution.
Ms. Harris founded Equitable Solutions Consulting in 2020, leveraging her legal expertise and extensive experience engaging in anti-racism and equity work to work with organizations within and outside of the legal community. She has wide-ranging expertise in areas of equitable organizational assessment and design, policy development and implementation, workplace investigations, system reviews, leadership development, and anti-racism education. Laurelle has been called upon to act as a subject matter expert in anti-racism and equity, including with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, and led the Review into Systemic Racism and Oppression at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Laurelle serves as a director with the Manitoba Law Foundation and sits on the Legal Aid Manitoba Advisory Committee. She also chairs the Manitoba Bar Association’s Equality Section and was awarded the MBA’s Equality Award in 2022.
A geeky introvert, Laurelle spends her spare time planning new travels, reading urban fantasy, and dreaming of the Oxford comma.
Dr. Tess Sheldon, Associate Professor, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law
Tess Sheldon joined the University of Windsor Faculty of Law in 2018.
She writes, presents and teaches extensively on a variety of mental health, access to justice, disability and human rights topics. Dr. Sheldon completed her doctorate at the University of Toronto, exploring the legal issues raised by the covert administration of medication in psychiatric settings. She practiced exclusively with Ontario’s legal clinic system, including at ARCH Disability Law Centre and Justice for Children and Youth.
Dr. Sheldon’s research, including about coercive medication administration practices in psychiatric settings, scrutinizes the role of law to protect and promote our communities’ health. She explores the law’s possibilities (and perils) to confront the regimes that reflect and reinforce economic and social exclusion of persons with disabilities and consumers/ survivors of the psychiatric system.
Dawn Steliga, Law student, University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law
Dawn Steliga is a part-time student at Robson Hall. Prior to law school, she worked for the Manitoba Accessibility Compliance Secretariat, retired from a 20-year career in healthcare, and completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences with a minor in Psychology. During her time at the Secretariat, she discovered her passion for helping individuals, like herself, who face barriers due to disability. She now utilizes her expertise as an Individual Collaborator for the Canadian Accessibility Network. Her research interests include disability and the law, human rights, and law reform.
Peter Tonge, Peter Tonge Consulting
Peter Tonge brings a broad range of experience to his work. With university degrees in data analysis and computer science, Peter worked as a manager at Statistics Canada specializing in construction and international trade. A career in law followed. As a criminal defense attorney, Peter worked on thousands of cases, often representing clients with mental health and addiction issues.
Drawing on his legal career and day-to-day experience as a wheelchair user, Peter founded Peter Tonge Consulting in 2021. The organization works with clients to address disability issues such as accessibility, inclusion, community engagement, human rights and policy development.
In the community, he is a board member of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba and SCE Lifeworks. A proud member of Rotary International, Peter also contributes to numerous humanitarian projects, both locally and internationally. Peter stays fit and active as a wheelchair fencer.
Law Society of Manitoba members: This program is eligible for 1.5 hours of CPD, all of which are considered EPPM. You must manually record these hours in your CPD Tracker.