Raj Anand, senior WeirFoulds partner, Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) and co-chair, Working Groups on Challenges Faced by Racialized Lawyers and Paralegals, wrote a letter to the editor of The Globe and Mail.
The letter, was in response to the article, “Equal Outcomes Have Replaced Equality Of Opportunity“, written by Margaret Wente and published in The Globe and Mail on November 4, 2017.
Wente’s article criticized a plan by Canadian universities to collect and make public demographic data on faculty, staff and students. The plan aims to increase diversity and inclusion of their campus communities.
She specifically refers to, and also criticizes, the final report from the Working Group on Challenges Faced by Racialized Lawyers and Paralegals, Working Together for Change: Strategies to Address Issues of Systemic Racism, which was approved by the LSUC in December 2016.
The report provided 13 recommendations to address issues for systemic racism in the legal profession. Wente’s article refers to one which asks lawyers to adopt and abide by a statement of principles acknowledging their commitment to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Raj wrote, “Few would dispute that it serves the best interests of lawyers, and the interests of their clients and the public, to give careful thought to the unintended results of hiring and professional policies, and commit to removing barriers. That is the sum total of the Statement of Principles requirement which the Law Society adopted a year ago as an ethical obligation of every lawyer and paralegal who is given the right to serve the public of this province.”
To read the full letter, please click here.