This year, I crossed a considerable milestone in my profession. It came with challenges but in the midst of it all, I found myself meeting very kind individuals both in the world and in the profession.
I am honoured by the people who have helped shape me as a lawyer, including the many lawyers and mentors I had the privilege to work alongside and against in various fields of law, and the education and guidance from both the Law Society and from Legal Aid Ontario.
This also holds true for many of the decision-makers and judges I have appeared before. Their guidance was often profound. The lessons are learned both in the advocacy and in the outcomes.
One of the greatest privileges of my career has been advocating for those whose voices are too often overlooked. As a racialized female, I understand what it means to be misunderstood or judged based on characteristics beyond my control and I find that in this profession I have the honour to work with some folks in this position.
Those experiences have reinforced an important lesson for me: life will sometimes meet us with unfairness, but resilience is found in how we choose to respond.
The barriers are real, but they do not define you.
There is a saying: don’t judge a book by its cover. In refugee and other areas of law, that principle carries profound meaning.
In refugee law, every claimant has a story, shaped by hardship, courage, loss, and hope. My role is to ensure that others do not reduce you to your cover but that your story is heard in its entirety. Not reduced to assumptions, appearances, or first impressions.
Like a book, you are far more than your cover.
You are every chapter, every page, and every word in between.
The truth is there will be those who judge our book by the cover. Not everyone will take the time to read your story. Some may form quick opinions, often rooted by their own experiences, misconceptions or simply misguidance.
But your response should never be to lower your integrity. Character is where equality begins and also where it ends. Character also has a way of revealing itself over time. Define yourself through the highest level of integrity, in your actions, your words and how you choose to treat other people. This is the key to navigating judgers of our book by the cover.
Practice makes perfect. Quiet consistency has a way of seeping through our cover.