Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC): Addressing Anti-Black Racism in Ontario's Education System (1 position)

Area of Law: Administrative Law -- Civil Litigation -- Education Act -- Human Rights Code -- Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- Class Proceedings Act

Established in 2017, the Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) is an independent not-for-profit community legal clinic, funded by Legal Aid Ontario, that combats individual and systemic anti-Black racism by providing free legal services, conducting research, developing public legal education materials, and engaging in test case litigation and law reform. To learn more about BLAC, check out their website here: www.blacklegalactioncentre.ca

In this project, students will research three potential avenues of collective redress for systemic anti-Black racism within Ontario's education system: class actions, Charter challenges, and group Human Rights Tribunal applications. Students will focus on three main ways in which anti-Black racism can manifest - suspensions, expulsions, and streaming (i.e, dividing students into academic or applied tracks) - and weigh the pros and cons of each course of action. Students will provide objective legal information.

The relevant research questions may include:

  • As a starting point, what is the social science background to anti-Black racism in the education system, i.e. how does anti-Black racism manifest in suspensions, expulsions, and streaming? (Students can review previous sociological reports, statistics, and other work done in this area to educate themselves about this topic.)
    • Other sociological questions include: Are there differences across the province (e.g. in poorer and/or more radicalized communities)? What are the long-term implications of streaming (e.g. graduation outcomes, socio-economic status, job, career, etc.)?
  • Is there prior litigation on this area, or in similar jurisdictions?
  • What can be learned from similar cases? (Association of Ontario Midwives, migrant workers and DNA test case)
  • What are the relevant school board policies? What are the legal issues that they raise?
  • From a procedural point of view, how would each avenue of redress work?
  • Who is the appropriate respondent?
  • What kind of evidence would BLAC need to move ahead with (an) action(s)?

Students can list the pros and cons of each avenue of redress, but cannot provide legal advice. In other words, students cannot recommend the most valuable or best option for BLAC. If students find that the research portion of the project is relatively straightforward, they may be able to move ahead with freedom of information (FOI) requests and other work to support this project. 

Time Commitment

Students are expected to volunteer 3-5 hours per week. There are no regular shifts and most of the work can be completed remotely. BLAC does have a space where students can work and they are in the office on Tuesdays during work hours. 

Required Training

In addition to the PBSC mandatory training, all students will be invited to participate in internal training workshops relating to the research topic and other related areas of law. A training in statutory interpretation will be provided. 

Number of Students and Prerequisites

  • How many students? 
    • One student
  • Can first year law students volunteer? 
    • First year students are encouraged to apply!
  • Should you be bilingual?
    •  No - bilingualism is not an expectation but is always nice to have
  • Any other expectations for this project? 
    • Students should have a history of self-directed research and a strong research background (e.g. freedom oof information requests). Students should be interested in the subject matter.