Left to Right. Back Row: Hilary Clark, Nathan Sutherland, Catherine Gribbin, Stephanie Lane, Mady Sinclair, Neil Chantler, Eugene Kung, Stephanie Sanger, Lisa Asbreuk, Meredith Wain, Alicia Kennedy. Front Row: Keith Sutherland, Josie Mckinney, Mahdi Shams, Patrick Canning, Lori Rogers
WE RECENTLY READ your editorial in
the Ansul, entitled “Where have all the activists gone” and felt the need to respond. The activists haven’t gone anywhere, we’re still here. While we don’t necessarily interrupt Law Hour or produce internal publications five times a year, there are many broad and complex social and environmental issues being tackled at Weldon in a variety of ways. One example of legal activism came with the recent IDEALaw conference organized by the Social Activist Law Student Association (SALSA) and held at Dalhousie on February 10-11, 2006 societies.dsu.ca/salsa/idealaw.html. Academics, students, practitioners and members of the community came together to envision new concepts of a “just” society. The goal was to create a positive space for activists and advocates of all kinds to congregate and constructively discuss what they can do to bring us closer to their vision of an ideal society. It was inspiring and the speakers showed students that there are many ways to use the law to help create
a more just society. It was a great success with more than 200 participants, many from out of province. The keynote speaker was Mark Kingwell, a visionary, best-selling author, and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. A series of panel discussions featuring 14 other prominent guests discussing six major themes: activism in the 21st century, law and ideals in the international context; law and sexuality; community development; poverty and the law; and environmental issues in a just society. The hope was that IDEALaw 2006 would be more than an academic exercise and allow participants to bridge the gap between talk and action. Speakers were encouraged to share what they are doing in practice to effect change. IDEALaw 2006 was driven by the notion that a “just” society is possible. This notion was woven into the fabric of the entire conference. Locally-produced food was provided by community businesses and served on reusable dishes. IDEALaw 2006 mugs were filled
throughout the conference with fairly traded coffee. And to prove that there are plenty of advocates for a just society at Weldon, SALSA had the generous support of numerous student organizations at Dalhousie, including the Law Students’ Society, the Dalhousie Student Union, the Environmental Law Students Society, the Dalhousie Black Law Students Association, the Dalhousie Aboriginal Law Students Association, and our student chapter of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights. Mahdi Shams, (LL.B.’08) Stephanie Lane, (LL.B.’08)
Dalhousie Law School Hearsay 2006
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