What's New with the PLE Program?

Workshops

We currently have the following workshops available for the NAN Communities and Schools:

• Bullying
• Child Custody, Access and Support
• Bail and Sureties
• Legal Aid Ontario and How to Access a Lawyer

We will be developing more workshop topics as request come in. Future topics include the Youth Criminal Justice Act, Pardons and Child Welfare. Keep an eye out for new developments and please dont't hesitate to call us and request our services.

Special Projects

The Telejustice Project

NEW! We are please to announce that our Community Legal Workers now have a new tool to help them provide you with better service.  Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services and ProBono Law Ontario have launched the "Ask a Lawyer" website. This site helps the CLWs write down any legal questions you have asked them and then have them forwarded to a panel of volunteer lawyers who specialize in certain legal fields. This will allow them to get answers to your questions faster than ever before! So if you have a question regarding Employment Law, Consumer Law, Landlord and Tenant Issues, Senior's Legal Issues or Will and Estates, please drop us a line or call us. We would love to include your questions in our new site.

And while so far, the Ask-a-Lawyer website can only be accessed by the CLWs, we hope that this website will be available to the public in the future.

 Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN)

We have also recently partnered with OJEN to bring justice education to the NAN schools. The Circuit Court Justice Education Program is a program that seeks to establish links between the justice sector, teachers and students in the Northern communities. Thus far we have been able to pilot this project in Eabametoong First Nation at the John C. Yesno Education Centre. Some of the activities that have been carried on so far include presentations on Charter Rights, Restorative Justice, Bullying, and a mock sentencing scenario. This project depends a lot on the volunteer duty counsel, lawyers, judges and other court personnel. As such, we would like to thank them for their support.

We are very pleased with the way this project is going and we hope to expand it to more NAN schools in the upcoming 2006-2007 school year. So if your school is interested in taking part in this project, please feel free to contact us or OJEN's Julie Petruzzellis at 1-416-947-3308 or at .

We are also continuing to work on many new, exciting and innovative projects in partnership with various legal and government agencies. Please watch this section for upcoming updates on those projects and how they will affect your access to justice.

In the meantime, if you wish to contribute information about the PLE needs of your community, you will be able to access our Community Assessment Legal Needs Questionnaire by clicking on this symbol: . You can either mail your responses to our Thunder Bay office or you can e-mail them to the Legal Education and Communications Officer at. Ther is no deadline for thie questionnaires. Thank you for all your help and support.