Employees of Community Legal Services with
Mayor Jim Watson of Ottawa showing their support
for Indigenous Rights. Click here for larger picture.
In 2017, the Ottawa Community Legal Services took action to support Indigenous communities in Ottawa by closing their offices for the first time on National Aboriginal Day (NAD) on June 21.
In a letter to the Prime Minister and various Members of Parliament and Provincial Parliament, Ottawa Legal Services office Chair Cavell Townley wrote: “We are writing to inform you that the offices of Community Legal Services of Ottawa (West, South and Downtown) will be closed on June 21 from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm in honour and recognition of National Aboriginal Day.”
“Many of the calls [we received] speak to the work we do as legal advocates for Ottawa’s low-income communities. Community Legal Services of Ottawa confirms its commitment to take concrete steps to fulfill the 94 Calls to Action made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, in order to promote healing and move towards substantive equality for Canada’s Indigenous people,” wrote Cavell Townley.
In Cavell Townley’s letter, she also quoted Senator Murray Sinclair, former Chief Commissioner of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, who said: “We have described for you a mountain. We have shown you the path to the top. We call upon you to do the climbing.”
It was expected that the closing of the office for NAD would facilitate the staff participating in reconciliation activities.
Posted: August 14, 2017