Hosted by the WeirFoulds Women Committee, WeirFoulds’ annual International Women’s Day celebration took place at the firm’s Toronto offices on March 6, 2024. This year the firm had the privilege of welcoming Pam Hrick, Executive Director & General Counsel of the Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund (LEAF), to speak to lawyers and staff about the important advocacy and law reform work that LEAF is doing to advance equality in Canada.
A well-established and dedicated advocate for gender equality, LEAF was founded in 1985 with a mandate to act whenever the substantive equality rights guaranteed under sections 15 and 28 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms need to be protected or strengthened. Pam was introduced by Debra McKenna and Marie-Pier Nadeau and participated in an informative discussion before answering questions from the audience.
The discussion revolved around the recent work that LEAF has been involved with, including participating as an intervenor on the Bill 124 challenge before the Ontario Court of Appeal and intervening at the Supreme Court of Canada in the R v. Tsang and R. v. Kruk (in decisions released by the Supreme Court on March 8, 2024), as well as making submissions to the federal and provincial governments on proposed bills and policies that involve gender rights or impact gender equality.
WeirFoulds maintains a longstanding and strong commitment to equality and empowering women in every aspect of their professional and personal lives, with the WeirFoulds Women Committee serving as an integral part of our goal to promote a diverse, inclusive and professional workplace.
Please visit our dedicated Equity, Diversity & Inclusion page to learn more about the changes that have been implemented through the firm’s Inclusion Strategy and Multi-Year Action Plan, as well as the full scope of EDI legal and consultation services that WeirFoulds offers.