Family, friends, and colleagues gathered October 30, 2018 to celebrate The Law Foundation of Ontario’s 2018 Guthrie Award recipient: Mary Birdsell.
Ms Birdsell is Executive Director of Justice for Children and Youth, a legal aid clinic dedicated to protecting and advancing the legal rights and dignity of children and youth. She’s devoted her career to providing legal services, justice advocacy, community development, and research and education on behalf of the most vulnerable children and youth and has appeared at all levels of courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, on questions related to justice issues for children and youth across a range of legal subjects.
- Watch a video of Mary Birdsell’s speech.
- See photos on Facebook from Mary Birdsell’s Guthrie Award celebration event.
- Learn more about Mary Birdsell in the award announcement.
Video by Gardner Productions
About the Guthrie Award
The Law Foundation of Ontario created the Guthrie Award in 1996 to honour H. Donald Guthrie, Q.C., a long-standing member and Chair of the Foundation’s Board. The Foundation welcomes and encourages nominations of individuals who have a significant and proven track record of furthering access to justice.
Guthrie recipients have built bridges between youth and the justice system, advanced justice for Indigenous peoples, served women experiencing violence, and strengthened the community clinic system to assist people with low-incomes. Previous recipients include: Professor Reem Bahdi, professor, author, and human rights advocate; Julie Mathews, Executive Director, Community Legal Education Ontario; Kimberly Murray, Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Aboriginal Justice and former Executive Director, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada; Stephen Goudge, former Ontario Court of Appeal; the Hon. Roy McMurtry, former Attorney General and Chief Justice of Ontario; Alan Borovoy, former general counsel, Canadian Civil Liberties Association; and the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic.
