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Examining the Social Security Tribunal’s Navigator Service: Access to Justice for Marginalized Communities
March 3, 2022 at 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
Cost: | Free |
Sule Tomkinson, Université Laval
2:30 ET via Zoom
Conflicts between citizens and governments can arise at any point in the policy process. In Canada, administrative tribunals constitute the central remedy available to citizens for contesting bureaucratic decisions and resolving their conflicts. In principle, administrative tribunals offer citizens an informal forum to revisit matters of rights and entitlements, but for citizens without professional representation they are legalistic and difficult to navigate. Within this context, endogenous tribunal initiatives has the potential to address these challenges. Starting in November 2019, Social Security Tribunal of Canada has integrated a Navigator Service in its divisions to help self-represented citizens with their appeals. Navigators are legal intermediaries, while they are not legal professionals; their everyday work involves legal categories, law and often members of marginalized communities. In this presentation, focusing on Canada Pension Plan–Disability benefit appeals, I will show how Navigators play an important role in improving access to administrative justice and rebuilding trust in government. This presentation is based on a research project that I conducted with Professor Laverne Jacobs. Our report can be found here.
Dr. Sule Tomkinson is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at Université Laval. She is also the Director of Centre d’analyse des politiques publiques. Her research examines how states deliver administrative justice, how they measure its quality and how they innovate in this area. Her research has been funded by The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, The Fonds de recherche du Québec, The Fondation du Barreau du Québec and The Canadian Foundation for Legal Research. She is currently working on her first book Knocking on Canada’s Door: Refugee Hearings and Administrative Justice which is under contract with the University of British Columbia Press.
This event is sponsored by the Bell Chair in Canadian Parliamentary Democracy.
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