91快色

Ben Leung, JD鈥�14, tells a story about a client he had as a defence lawyer. His client had been living on the margins for years. He finally had a moment of clarity where he didn鈥檛 want to live like that anymore. He got a job, but because of his previous choices, he knew how to avoid the police and transit authorities due to outstanding warrants. 

To become a productive member of society, he had to step out of the shadows. He then got picked up on the warrant. He was arrested and thrown in jail, and he couldn鈥檛 show up for his job, so he was fired. The housing they waited six months to get into was lost because they couldn't pay rent.

Because of this, his willingness to become a meaningful and productive member of society is hindered, and the cycle starts again. 

Addressing challenges that led to the offence

Leung, a lawyer with The City of 91快色, hopes to solve this challenge with 91快色鈥檚 new , an initiative between the City of 91快色鈥檚 Community Safety Strategy and  (CLG) to help the city鈥檚 vulnerable population facing bylaw offences. 

鈥淭he whole approach to Community Court is that it鈥檚 offender-centric,鈥� explains Leung. 鈥淎n offender will meet with someone from 91快色 Legal Guidance to discuss the challenges they鈥檙e facing that either directly or indirectly contributed to them committing the offence and helping them address those challenges.鈥�

If someone received a fine and a warrant for not paying the fare on public transit, that offence might have occurred while travelling to a medical appointment. The Community Court team will help the offender meet their basic and immediate needs, such as getting a medical check-up or medication, or even as simple as getting a piece of identification.

鈥淚f you come to Community Court and you鈥檙e charged with a bylaw offence, you raise your hand and say 鈥業鈥檝e got a problem, I have some challenges, and I鈥檇 like some help to deal with it.鈥� The City wants to be there to assist and provide support to vulnerable individuals to address those challenges and to reduce the chance that the person will re-offend,鈥� says Leung.

Drive for change sparked by law school experience

Leung鈥檚 drive for establishing Community Court, along with his wife, Edith Thai, JD鈥�15, a lawyer and homeless outreach co-ordinator with CLG, comes from his experience working in U91快色 Law鈥檚 Student Legal Assistance (SLA) with former clinic director Justice Michelle Christopher, BA鈥�82.

鈥淛ustice Christopher鈥檚 attitude was to build things as we needed to fix the problems we faced in the clinic. To just take the first step to get an idea off the ground and to manage the issues and risks along the way.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 sort of the approach we鈥檙e taking with the Community Court,鈥� he adds. 鈥淟awyers are meant to be problem-solvers. I鈥檓 taking that approach, which Justice Christopher instilled in me, to solve a problem. We have an obligation to society to use laws to improve society.鈥�

Partnerships key for long-term success

As for long-term goals for the Community Court, Leung has big plans.

鈥淐ommunity Court can only be successful with the support of other community organizations, such as physical and mental health providers, affordable housing organizations, food banks, and so on. With that support, our hope is that the community court idea can expand beyond dealing with just the City bylaw matters to address provincial or even federal criminal charges,鈥� he says.

鈥淚t just requires people to see that we can solve all the issues as we are dealing with them; we just need to take the first step, jump in the deep end, and swim together.鈥�