York legal clinic looking to expand horizons

Yuni Kim
News editor
York’s team of legal eagles is campaigning to raise funds to expand a legal clinic for students and community members who require legal assistance but might not have the funds for it.
Benjamin Keen, a Community Legal Aid Service Program (CLASP) leader from the criminal division, said his group is looking to target significant student issues, such as problems with landlords of maintenance issues in the Village.
“We do receive some funding from legal aid, but that’s been frozen,” said Keen. “There needs to be a significant interest from the student body […] we started thinking about the referendum last summer.”
CLASP currently receives a student levy of about five cents per credit. In comparison, the University of Ottawa’s legal clinic receives up to four times this amount.
CLASP is looking to increase the amount to 15 cents per credit through a referendum to better serve the community – some of who might not have access to sufficient funds for legal advice and assistance.
“This week is our campaigning period,” said Amanda Ross, a criminal division leader of CLASP. “From now til Friday, we’re putting up banners, handing out flyers and going class to class informing students [about the referendum].”
Widely considered a rite of passage for law students at Osgoode, CLASP is comprised of 15 to 17 law students who work full-time. They are supervised by a team of four lawyers, a social worker for community outreach programs, and have anywhere from 150 to 200 volunteers helping out.
“The volunteer positions are there, but we want to create more,” said Ross. She noted that the positions are exclusive only to Osgoode students, but that “we do want to expand involvement for undergrads.”
Six polling stations will be open March 28 to March 31 at Vari Hall, Scott Library, the Student Centre, Osgoode Hall, Health Nursing & Environmental Sciences (HNES) building or Glendon campus.
You can also vote online during this time at www.voteclasp.ca.