TOM WILSON
<Contributor>
During the L&L and Student Caucus elections that concluded on March 21, Osgoode students voted to join the new Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO).
With 80.6% of the vote, Osgoode is the first law school in Ontario to join the LSSO. The LSSO, inspired in no small part by the fractured and ineffective student response to the recent articling debate, is a non-partisan issues-based advocacy organization representing Ontario law students. Over the past six months, law student governments in Ontario have designed an organization capable of building relationships and advocating on our behalf. This organization is the LSSO and I am proud to proclaim that Osgoode has been a standard-bearer and chief proponent for the society. Kudos is owed to all members of Student Caucus, Kasia Kmieć in particular, Dean Sossin, and the Queens University SLS for getting the ball rolling.
The hard work, however, has just begun. To butcher Aristotle, “one constitution does not an organization make.” The seed has been sown, but sweat and lost sleep are now needed to raise the LSSO up from the ground. By approving the LSSO, Osgoode has taken a monumental step forward — our efforts, present and future, must now match our ambitions.
Until the formation of the LSSO, there was no national or provincial advocacy organization specifically dedicated to issues facing law students. However, the recent developments surrounding the shortage of articling positions and the attendant reforms to the licensing process, and rapidly increasing tuition fees drew Ontario’s law students into the business of group advocacy.
If and when Ontario law schools ratify the LSSO constitution, the organization will meet to elect leaders and set its agenda for the next academic year.