www.canadianlawyermag.com 17
those were your fundamental constitutional
principles that you were building the struc-
ture around, was completely unusual."
What is also unusual but completely
unplanned by Ryerson is starting from scratch
during a pandemic.
"All of a sudden, those hallway, spontaneous
conversations end. Going into someone's
office and brainstorming end. We have to do
all of this by appointment and by video chat,
which is extremely artificial," says Young.
"With all the challenges that all of us have
had during the pandemic, I think that the
challenge of building Ryerson law was more
acute. Having said that, I cannot believe how
well we've done."
Even after the pandemic has passed and
students are able to return to in-person
classes, though, Young is hoping Ryerson will
still be a law school outlier. Young's response
to critics who say there are already too many
lawyers in Canada exemplifies this hope.
Most Canadians who are going through the
justice system as self represented "don't have
lawyers. So, if we have too many lawyers, then
why is it that our population is not being is not
being served by them?
"What Ryerson can do that no other legal
institution can do is do the kind of hiring right
now from the beginning that will address
many of [these] concerns."
For Young, that was worth returning home
to do.
"I've seen law schools commit themselves
to [equality, diversity and inclusion]. But to
begin a law school, where those were your
fundamental constitutional principles that
you were building the structure around, was
completely unusual."
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