The Criminal Lawyers’ Association (CLA) enthusiastically endorses the Bencher Good Governance Coalition for the 2023 Law Society of Ontario (LSO) Bencher elections.

The Criminal Lawyers’ Association (CLA) enthusiastically endorses the Bencher Good Governance Coalition for the 2023 Law Society of Ontario (LSO) Bencher elections.

The Good Governance Coalition collectively recognizes the existence of systemic racism and each candidate has undertaken to focus on issues of access to justice which are of critical importance to the criminal defence bar and the legal profession at large. The CLA as an organization has supported and continues to support measures to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in the legal profession and believes more must be done to ensure these laudable goals are achieved. The CLA also recognizes the importance of preserving lawyers’ ability to self-regulate. This is critical to the independence of the defence bar.  

Members of the Good Governance Coalition are running to be independent fiduciaries of the LSO’s board of directors, and have undertaken to vote independently and in the public interest. These candidates recognize that they are not members of a political party who must vote in lockstep.

The CLA’s board of directors voted to support the Good Governance Coalition because the CLA believes that this group of bencher candidates represents the best interests of the vast majority of our organization.

Along with our support, the majority of the CLA board of directors voted to provide a $2,000 donation to the coalition.

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