For Immediate Release
April 15, 2008
OTTAWA – Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson will address Ottawa high school students on Law Day, April 17, as part of a half-day event that includes a mock trial and a career panel.
Taking place in the Ottawa Technical High School auditorium at 440 Albert St., the Ottawa Law Day event brings more than 650 high school students together to learn about the law and the legal system. In celebration of the anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the CBA launched Law Day in 1983.
“We are very pleased to welcome Justice Minister Nicholson, who has taken time out from his busy schedule, to participate in Ottawa’s Law Day program. He joins the many lawyers across the country today and this week who are volunteering their time to organize programs to get young people involved,” says CBA President Bernard Amyot of Montreal.
Beginning at 9 a.m., the Law Day 2008 mock trial focuses on the criminal justice system and the effect it can have on teenagers. The case deals with drug possession, and students learn the hard way when one is caught red-handed trying to bring drugs into a school dance. The scene will be enacted by a group of drama students from Immaculata High School, under the direction of teacher Laura Hache.
As students begin to think about their future, they need a great deal of information before making career decisions. The career panel begins at 11 a.m. and is designed to help students in this process. This year’s panellists include: Justice Douglas Rutherford, Superior Court of Justice; Pamela Larmondin, Crown counsel, Public Prosecution Service of Canada; defence lawyer James Foord of Foord & Murray; corrections officer Paul Seguin, Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services; Canadian Border Services Agency peace officer Steve Hewett, and his dog Kinder; and Rod Olfert, Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services. Each will briefly describe what they do and then answer questions from the students.
Law Day events take place in the auditorium at the Ottawa Technical High School, 440 Albert St., from 9 a.m. until 12 noon. The minister of justice is scheduled to speak at 11:15 a.m. The event is open to media.
Ottawa Law Day activities are co-ordinated by a committee with members from the Canadian Bar Association, Justice Canada, the County of Carleton Law Association, l’Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic District School Board.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Tel: (613) 237-2925, ext. 146; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
