Legal Aid Ontario honored Richard Pharand, Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Douglas Varrette, Jamie Holmes
Richard Pharand, Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Douglas Varrette, and Jamie Holmes are the inaugural recipients of four new awards at Legal Aid Ontario’s Sidney B. Linden Access to Justice Awards.
Pharand was announced as the first lifetime achievement awardee – an accolade recognized a 57-year career advancing access to justice in Northern Ontario. Pharand was the first lawyer in Ontario to conduct a bilingual trial in English and French; over a 15-year period, he assisted striking steelworkers on legal matters pro bono.
He sat on the Legal Aid panel in 1968 and became area director for Sudbury and Manitoulin over 1980-2010. Sudbury lawyer MacGregor Sinclair said in a statement that Pharand “has devoted his career to representing and protecting members of our community with professionalism and genuine care.”
The LAO handed the first-ever changemaker award to HIV Legal Network co-executive director Chu in recognition of her leadership in systemic social justice and human rights reform.
Chu has progressed human rights cases in multiple jurisdictions in her tenure with HIV Legal Network, where she has held senior positions since 2007. She has championed HIV nondisclosure, harm reduction, and immigration law while challenging anti-LGBTQ legislation; as a result, global bodies have suggested limits on HIV criminalization, enforced harm reduction measures, and amended drug laws.
She advocated for a Charter challenge to legislation that would have led to the forced closure of supervised consumption sites in Ontario.
Varrette’s contributions to legal aid and access to justice early in his career earned the Mississauga Community Legal Services staff lawyer the rising leader award.
Varrette has been with the organization since 2022. Executive director Sabrina Karmali said in a statement that Varrette’s work displayed “a level of legal sophistication well beyond his years.” Moreover, the Income Security Advocacy Centre highlighted Varrette’s assistance of clients experiencing significant financial insecurity.
Holmes nabbed the first student award in an acknowledgement of her potential as a leader in the access to justice and Indigenous legal services.
The University of Windsor master of laws candidate is an articling student in LAO’s Indigenous Services Department. She concentrates on enhancing legal services for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis parents, children, and families.
Holmes has partnered with the Law Foundation of Ontario in a study on legal education reform related to Indigenous parents involved in the child welfare system. Her research focuses on how legal education and services can better meet the needs of Indigenous communities.
She is a Mohawk woman of the Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River.
