EDITORIAL: Law school was needed

The opening of Lakehead’s new law school last week marked an historic occasion in Northern Ontario.

For the first time yet, aspiring lawyers from the North will be able to get their training in their own backyards.

The school, by no means a given when LU officials first asked, took plenty of convincing before former premier Dalton McGuinty gave the go-ahead.

The decision, much like the medical school last decade, was the right one. Northern Ontario is a complex collection of communities and cultures. With the Ring of Fire and its accompanying legal battles looming large, it only makes sense to cater a legal learning program to the needs of those it will most affect.

Aboriginals need a voice in the justice system, lawyers who understand their issues.

A vast number of these students come from the North, towns like Kenora and Fort Frances, Thunder?Bay and Sault Ste. Marie.

While some will venture to Bay Street and other big-ticket opportunities in southern Ontario and beyond, many have said they want to practice close to home.

A lawyer well-versed in the intricacies of the region will have an advantage over someone from afar, Thus it’s only fitting that Ontario’s first new law school in 44 years will set up shop in Thunder?Bay. A job well done to everyone who played a role in making it happen.