After five months of meetings, discussions, and recommendations, besides statements of solidarity, the Faculty of Law - Common Law Section (CLS) has done little to nothing to address the issue of anti-Black racism at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (CLS). In an email sent to us on June 2, 2020, Dean Dodek said it himself “words are important, but they are insufficient”. However, the Administration’s inaction is in opposition to his statement.

The Black Law Students' Association, University of Ottawa Chapter (BLSA Ottawa) believes that more action is necessary in order to truly support and provide a safe learning environment for Black law students at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (CLS). Accordingly, we demand to see the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (CLS) take action to support their Black law students.

The following Call to Action provides tangible steps for the Administration to take that will directly aid and protect Black law students at the Faculty of Law. The following demands are based on feedback collected from students, staff, and Faculty with lived experiences of anti-Black racism at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (CLS). 

While the Common Law Section of the Faculty prides itself on being a social justice institution committed to cultural diversity, it is not. Accordingly, we expect the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (CLS) to reflect on its role in perpetuating both individual and systemic anti-Black racism within the Faculty. We also ask the Faculty of Law (CLS) to commit to fighting systemic racism by implementing our demands in order to support historically marginalized Black law students.

The list that follows is by no means exhaustive. There is a lot of work to be done to dismantle anti-Black racism at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (CLS). We demand that not only the Administration take action in fighting anti-Black racism in the Faculty, but that the Administration engage with our demands promptly and publicly.

See the full CALL TO ACTION and our list of demands here: www.blsaottawa.com/call-to-action