Following publication of the National Action Committee Reports, Mr Justice Cromwell spoke at meetings across Canada about his recommendations for change. Sue represented NSRLP in Toronto and Edmonton, and SRL Jennifer Muller was invited to the Vancouver meeting.
Sue writes: “One comment made by Mr Justice Cromwell in both venues stood out for me: ‘We need to broaden the conversation and get the public voice involved.’ Comparing the two events, it seemed that the greater the representation of “non-lawyer” social agencies and others, the more concrete and energized the discussions became.”
Jennifer writes: It was incredibly heartening from an SRL perspective to see a large group of legal professionals discussing A2J. The expression “implementation gap” came up numerous times. A good deal of time and energy spent on identifying/defining problems and rather less time discussing solutions. From my SRL perspective, the legal system still seems to belong to lawyers and judges, but many of those attending the meeting are clearly committed to change.”