Your Community Legal Clinic

 

Our Services - Law Reform

 

This page provides a number of links and other information on law reform activities that our clinic, as well as others, are involved in.

 

Make poverty history campaign

CLEONet Website

Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO)

Low Income Energy Network (LIEN)

ODSP Action Coalition

Income Security Advocacy Centre

PovNet

Law Commission of Ontario

Ontario Project for Inter-Clinic Community Organizing (OPICCO)

Write to your MPP or MP

Publications - Osgoode Hall Law School - Janet Mosher Reports

List Serves you can join

 

See Also:   Law Reform News

 

 

Make Poverty History in Canada

 

Visit their website at www.makepovertyhistory.ca for more information.  Please also visit www.campaign2000.ca for more information on ending child poverty in Canada.

 

CLEONet

CLEONet is an online clearinghouse for community legal education in Ontario. It is a project of Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO). CLEONet is funded by The Law Foundation of Ontario.  It has an easily searchable collection of hundreds of resources and news items on a wide range of legal topics, in a number of languages, that are produced by legal clinics and community organizations across Ontario.  CLEONet has its own page on law reform called Campaigns and Law Reform. It includes resources related to law reform campaigns and to community development and organizing around legal issues.

 

Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO)

 

In consultation with legal aid clinics and tenant/housing advocacy groups, ACTO is setting priorities for the law reform and advocacy work that will have a broad impact on the housing issues facing low-income tenants, co-op members and homeless persons. 

 

Low Income Energy Network (LIEN)

This site by the Low Income Energy Network is designed primarily to share information with the Network about LIEN's activities, and activities of its members on issues related to addressing the energy needs of Ontario's low-income households and energy issues.

 

ODSP Action Coalition

 

The ODSP Action Coalition is made up of community clinic caseworkers, agency staff, and community activists. They undertake campaigns and activities designed to raise awareness of issues affecting persons in receipt of Ontario Disability Support Program ("ODSP") benefits.

 

The ODSP Action Coalition was formed in 2002 as a coalition of lawyers, community workers and consumers. The coalition is leading the campaign to document and publicize problems with ODSP and has engaged in lobbying and advocacy to encourage solutions to those problems.

 

Income Security Advocacy Centre

The Income Security Advocacy Centre works with and on behalf of low income communities in Ontario to address issues of income security and poverty.

 

The Centre initiates and conducts test case and Charter litigation, law reform and community development related to federal and provincial income security programs such as Ontario Works, the Ontario Disability Support Program, Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

 

PovNet

 

PovNet is an internet site for advocates, people on welfare, and community groups and individuals involved in anti-poverty work. It provides up-to-date information about welfare and housing laws and resources in British Columbia and Canada. PovNet links to current anti-poverty issues and also provides links to other anti-poverty organizations and resources in Canada and internationally.

 

PovNet now has live news feeds on its website -- this means that you can click on the news feeds section on the right hand side of the web site and then go to any of the categories below to get up-to-the second news.
 

Law Commission of Ontario

 

Launched on September 7, 2007, the Law Commission of Ontario has a mandate to recommend law reform measures to increase the legal system’s relevance, effectiveness and accessibility; to clarify and simply the law; consider technology as a means to enhance access to justice; and stimulate critical debate about law and promote scholarly legal research.  

 

View their report on the practice of charging fees for cashing government cheques.

 

Ontario Project for Inter-Clinic Community Organizing (OPICCO)

 

The OPICCO site was created to provide community organizations & community legal clinics in Ontario with tools for organizing.

 

Write to your MPP or MP

 

Visit www.ontla.on.ca and click "members" to find out who is your Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP).  You can click "Current MPP's" to get an list which you can sort by riding or you can do a Postal Code search to find the electoral district for your postal code.  You can also call 1-800-677-8683, TTY: 1-888-292-2312. 

 

    The MPP for Prince Edward-Hastings is Leona Dombrowsky.

    The MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington is Randy Hillier

    The MPP for Northumberland-Quinte West is Lou Rinaldi

 

To find your federal Member of Parliament (MP) click here.

 

    The MP for Prince Edward-Hastings is Daryl Kramp

    The MP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington is Scott Reid

    The MP for Northumberland-Quinte West is Rick Norlock

 

View this Lobby Tip Sheet (PDF format, 24 kb, 2 pgs) created by Jennifer Ramsay of the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) for tips on lobbying your MPP.

 

Protocol for writing to MPPs:

 

The Premier                                           Cabinet Minister

 

The Honourable Dalton McGuinty                The Honourable [name]

Premier of Ontario                                    Minister of [name of ministry]

Queen's Park

Rm 281, Main Legislative Building                 Dear Minister:

Toronto, ON  M7A 1A4

 

Dear Premier McGuinty:                            

...                                                       

 

MPP

 

Mr./Ms. [name], MPP

[name of riding]

 

Osgoode Hall Law School - Janet Mosher Reports

 

Go to the Osgoode Hall law school site to view/download Janet Mosher's reports:

List Serves you can join