There have been hundreds of individuals involved in PLE in Canada since it began in the late 1960s. In this section, I will attempt to provide brief bios of those you will see referenced in this web site or who occupied senior positions in their organizations.
Penny Bain
One of the founders of public legal education in Canada.
Patricia Byrne
Current Executive Director, People’s Law School, Vancouver, British Columbia. Patricia is a lawyer with 25+ years of experience in senior roles in public and professional legal education in Toronto and Vancouver. Prior to these roles, Patricia was a practicing business lawyer. Contact Patricia at 604-331-5406 or pbyrne@peopleslawschool.ca.
Roland Case, Ph.D
Professor of Curriculum and Social Studies at Simon Fraser University. He is the author of On the threshold : Canadian law-related education, an account of the development of law-related education in Canada. He is a co-founder of TC2-The Critical Thinking Consortium—an association of 35 school districts, post-secondary institutions, and teacher organizations working to support critical thinking from kindergarten to graduate school. Roland is co-editor of the Canadian Anthology of Social Studies and of the Critical Challenges Across the Curriculum, an award winning series of 20 teaching resources for critical thinking.
Wanda Cassidy, Ph. D.
One of the founders of public legal education in Canada. Currently Associate Professor, Faculty of Education and Director, Centre for Education, Law and Society (CELS) at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia. Wanda’s areas of interest include legal literacy of youth, also referred to as law-related education which examines the roles and rights of the citizen in a democratic society; cyberbullying at K-12 and university, including ways to foster cyber-kindness; ethics of care as understood and enacted in schools, with particular attention to engaging marginalized or vulnerable populations.
The mandate of CELS is to improve the legal literacy of youth through a program of research, teaching, curriculum development, and community-based initiatives.
Contact Wanda at 778-836-8364 or wanda_cassidy@sfu.c
Rick Craig
Justice Education Society (formerly The Law Courts Education Society of B.C.): One of the founders of public legal education in Canada.In 1989, Rick helped found the Justic Education Society (formerly the British Columbia Courts Legal Education Society) and he was its Executive Director until his retirement in October 2017. Over the years, Rick has championed public legal education in British Columbia and Canada. His contributions extend to 14 countries worldwide.
Albert Currie, Ph. D.
Currently senior research fellow with the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice.
Formerly Principal Researcher, Research & Statistics Division, Justice Canada.
Gail Dykstra
One of the founders of public legal education in Canada.
Lois Gander, Q.C.
One of the founders of public legal education in Canada. One of the founders of the Legal Resource Centre of Alberta Ltd. Professor and Executive director of the Legal Resource Centre, later the Legal Studies Program of the Faculty of Extension, University of Alberta. Vice President of the Legal Resource Centre of Alberta Ltd operating as the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.
Wendy Geyer
One of the founders of public legal education in Canada and early Executive Director of Community Legal Education Ontario.
Gordon Hardy
Former Executive Director of the People’s Law School, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Meg Horn (1940 – 2019)
One of the founders of public legal education in Canada. A passionate activist and force for Canadian public access to law and for public involvement in justice, died from cancer on March 16, 2019 in Nanaimo B.C.
Drew Jackson
Drew is the Legal Content Developer at People’s Law School in British Columbia. A lawyer and librarian, he has worked for 20+ years in providing education and information on the law. At People’s Law School, he creates information for the public on everyday legal problems. He is keenly interested in making legal information easier to understand, and in applying technology to help people learn. Contact Drew at 604-331-5400 or djackson@peopleslawschool.ca.
Sarah McCoubrey
Former Executive Director of the Ontario Justice Education Network. Currently, a consultant working on access to justice solutions at Calibrate Solutions.OISE, University of Toronto: M. Ed, 2010; University of Victoria: J.D., 2003; University of Victoria: B.F.A, 1999
Carol McEwan (Pfeifer)
One of the founders of public legal education in Canada.
Julie Macfarlane
Professor Julie Macfarlane at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor established The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) https://representingyourselfcanada.com/ to advance understanding of the challenges and hard choices facing the very large numbers of Canadians who now come to court without counsel. PLE resources are often developed to assist self-represented litigants in dealing with aspects of their litigation.
Marsha Mildon
Teresa Mitchell
Christine Mowat
Diane Rhyason
One of the founders of public legal education in Canada.
Meg Richeson (see Meg Horn)
One of the founders of public legal education in Canada. Meg died in 2019.
Doug Surtees
Former Executive Director of Public Legal Education Association of Saskatchewan.
Jeff Surtees
Legal Resource Centre of Alberta Ltd operating as the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta: Executive Director
San San Sy
Legal Resource Centre/Legal Studies Program, Faculty of Extension/Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta: Associate Director until her retirement. One of the founders of public legal education in Canada.
Kirsten Wurmann
Librarian, Legal Studies Program, Faculty of Extension and its successor, the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta. She is the author of The Role and Impact of Librarians in the History and Development of Public Legal Education in Canada and co-author of Power to the People: The Legal Studies Program Pamphlet Collection 1976-1995.