2024

Whereas several comprehensive studies, including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Law Commission of Canada report, Restoring Dignity: Responding to Child Abuse in Canadian Institutions, have documented the immediate individual harm and the long term collective harm caused by Canadian government efforts to eradicate aboriginal language and culture by placing aboriginal children in Indian Residential Schools

Whereas racial profiling is any action undertaken by a person in a position of authority or an organization, for reasons of safety, security or public protection, that relies on stereotypes about race, ethnicity, nationality, ancestry, place of origin, aboriginality, or religion, rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual or group for different treatment or greater scrutiny

Whereas the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized privacy as a fundamental value of Canadian society

Whereas the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized privacy as a fundamental value of Canadian society

The lawyer must exercise independent professional judgment in providing legal advice, services and representation to a client. The lawyer must conduct himself or herself in a manner that respects, protects and advances the independence of the bar.

A lawyer who acts as a mediator shall, at the outset of the mediation, ensure that the parties to it understand fully that the lawyer is not acting as a lawyer for either party but, as mediator, is acting to assist the parties to resolve the matters in issue, and although communications pertaining to and arising out of the mediation process may be covered by some other common law, civil law, statutory or other privilege, they will not be covered by the solicitor-client privilege.

Sexual harassment and harassment are forms of discrimination. Harassment includes any improper, abusive or unwelcome conduct that offends, embarrasses, humiliates, or degrades another person. The lawyer should in all areas of professional conduct refrain from engaging in vexatious comments or conduct that is known or reasonably ought to be known to constitute sexual harassment or harassment.

The lawyer shall not advise or represent both sides of a dispute and, except after adequate disclosure to and with the consent of the clients or prospective clients concerned, shall not act or continue to act in a matter when there is or is likely to be a conflicting interest

The lawyer has a duty to hold in strict confidence all information concerning the business and affairs of the client acquired in the course of the professional relationship, and shall not divulge any such information except as expressly or impliedly authorized by the client, required by law or otherwise required by this Code.

Whereas members of the legal profession have a duty to establish and maintain a reputation for integrity and high standards of legal skill and care