As described in the course syllabus, law reform is an essential component of the struggle for women’s equality in Canada. This seminar-based, bilingual course features guest speakers and offers students an opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills they need to pursue systemic strategies for legal reform at the federal level. Drawing on the expertise of feminist lawyers and others actively engaged in federal law reform, the course’s discussions and learning topics include: interacting with Members of Parliament; representations and appearances before Parliamentary committees; writing briefs and opinion articles; traditional and social media campaigns and public relations; working in coalitions; and other key paths and tools to champion feminist reforms of the legal system.
Thanks to financial support from the Shirley Greenberg Chair for Women and the Legal Profession and its holder, Professor Natasha Bakht, students also benefit from a workshop on writing opinion pieces hosted by Shari Graydon in addition to the online resources of Feminist Law Reform 101.
According to Professor Jackman, the requirement to write and submit their op-ed pieces for publication encourages students to publicly voice their feminist ideas and to actively participate in current debates on women’s equality in all its diversity.
We wish to highlight our students’ commitment to social justice through the publication of their opinion pieces. These are concrete examples of how our student community is helping our society to progress, one publication at a time.
In alphabetical order:
Brittany Ennis, Contrer la discrimination à la frontière, CBA/ABC National
Alexandra George, Femmes détenues laissées pour compte, CBA/ABC National
Yasmin Khaliq, The Canada Health Act is failing people with mental illness, Ottawa Citizen
Caroline Maass, Forced evacuation of pregnant Indigenous women must stop, Toronto Star
Sumaya Sherif, Federal law banning conversion therapy is the first step toward dismantling heteronormative views, Ottawa Citizen
Brendan Thompson, Opinion: Cutting insurance for endometriosis treatment is callous and sexist, Saskatoon Star Phoenix
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Martha Jackman, BA (Queen’s), LLB (Toronto), LLM (Yale), specializes in constitutional law, a field to which she has dedicated a significant portion of her research. She is also interested in legal issues relating to the protection of women and marginalized groups.