2011 Summer Internships
Reflections from Participants in the 2011 Student Summer Internship Program
Joan Christiansen
Law Society of Nunavut • Iqaluit, Nunavut
“Every project I was involved with was meaningful. As a small office, I worked directly with the Executive Director on projects throughout the summer for the meetings with different Boards. The policy development work contributed to the mandate of the Law Society by enhancing the legal profession and its ability to deliver services to the public, government, and private companies in Nunavut. The CLA placement changed my perspective of the law in two ways. The first was because I was in the position of a regulator at the Law Society, which is also the collective voice of the legal profession. Transparency and moderating different stakeholders was critical, and it increased my appreciation for good governance. The second was because I was in Nunavut, and the Law Society necessarily had to adapt its policies and practices to the Northern context. In the future, I would love to stay engaged in Northern development projects and Aboriginal/Inuit law.”
Megan Strachan
Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council • Anchorage, Alaska
“My research on First Nations water rights provides another tool for the YRITWC to protect and restore the Yukon River to achieve their goal of being able to drink from the River in 50 years. This ambitious mandate requires a wide variety of actions: from the backhaul program to the water quality monitoring program and now potentially to the assertion of water rights and rights to use water for specific purposes which imply a certain quality of water. This could be an important building block for protecting stretches of the river. I already knew that I was interested in litigation, and this internship helped me realize that this is the area of law I want to pursue, something that gets me on my feet and out of the office, something with an argument. It also gave me some perspective on what it might be like to work in the area of Aboriginal law or for a First Nations government.”
Melissa Lonn
ECPAT International • Bangkok, Thailand
“The internship provided me with a more realistic portrait of how the law functions and the barriers that maintain certain injustices. My desire to dedicate my career to youth justice and children’s rights was further strengthened, as I was exposed to the laws’ shortcomings and ways in which people can better access and attain justice. I became increasingly concerned with the need for good lawyers to advocate for human rights.”
Erika Heinrich
Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) • Accra, Ghana
“My research gave me a much better understanding of some of the barriers people in developing countries face in exercising their rights, and the potential for public interest litigation to improve access and enforce the rule of law. I hope that in the future my work will be used by CEPIL as a resource in enforcing economic, social, and cultural rights in Ghana. I strongly believe that improving the rule of law has the potential to positively impact throughout the developing world, and I would like to continue to work towards one day working in this field.”
Jeanne Tremblay
Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik Legal Services • Iqaluit, Nunavut
“Most citizens in Nunavut qualify for legal aid and because there is little alternative to it, as Legal Aid is often the only option for legal representation. The organization had the mandate to provide access to quality legal assistance for the citizens of Nunavut despite the limited resources available. The Iqaluit office provides family, child welfare, and civil-poverty legal services; however, their main area of practice is criminal law. By assisting clients with their bail hearing and summary matters in court, I contributed to Maliiganik`s mandate by reducing the impact of limited resources on the right to fair criminal proceedings in Nunavummiut. During my internship, I had the opportunity to work directly with our clients by assisting them with their bail hearings, sentencing and summary matters in front of the court. The nature of my work enabled me to see the clear impact I had on their lives. They would speak through me to the court and I felt deeply privileged to have the responsibility to represent them in the best way possible to get the result they needed and the decision that would affect their right to liberty.”
If you are interested in learning more about CLA’s dynamic and progressive student internship program please visit: http://www.cla-ace.ca/internship.html or contact Meghan Cowan, Director of the Student Internship program at: mcowan@cla-ace.ca
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