Avvy Go Explained

Avvy Yao-Yao Go
Birth Place:Hong Kong
Nationality:Canadian
Occupation:Lawyer, activist
Awards:Order of Ontario
Module:
Child:yes
S:吴瑶瑶
T:吳瑤瑤

Avvy Yao-Yao Go (born 1963, in Hong Kong) is a Canadian lawyer and judge. She is known for her work advocating on behalf of immigrant and racialized communities in Canada. In 2014 she was appointed to the Order of Ontario. In August 2021, Go was appointed to the Federal Court.

Life and education

Go was born in 1963 in Hong Kong[1] [2] and emigrated to Canada with her parents in 1982.[3] She received her B.A. from the University of Waterloo in 1986, her L.L.B. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 1989,[4] and her L.L.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1999.[5] She was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1991.[3]

Career

Go became Acting Executive Director of the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) in 1988 and President of the Toronto Chapter of the CCNC in 1989. In that role, she became involved in the Redress Campaign for the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act.

After completing her articles with Toronto-based law firm WeirFoulds, Go worked as a Legal Researcher at Women's Legal Education & Action Fund (LEAF) before entering the legal clinic system as a Staff Lawyer for East Toronto Community Legal Services and Parkdale Community Legal Services.[5] [6]

In 1992, she became the executive director of the Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, a community legal aid clinic which provides free legal services to low-income, non-English speaking individuals in the Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian communities in the Greater Toronto Area.[7] In 2015, her organization hosted a series of workshops to assist people with applying for citizenship ahead of a new government coming into power in Canada.[8] She was still with the organization in 2016 and 2017, where she served as the Clinic Director.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Go was elected as a Bencher of Law Society of Upper Canada in 2001, 2006, and again in 2013.[14]

In 2002, Go was co-counsel in a class action lawsuit, Mack v Canada (AG), on behalf of Chinese head tax payers and their descendants against the Government of Canada to seek redress for the harmful effect of discriminatory Chinese head tax and Chinese Exclusion Act.[15] [16] Although the litigation was ultimately unsuccessful, it increased political pressure on the government to address this issue and help lead to an official apology by the Prime Minister of Canada on June 22, 2006, and the payment of symbolic reparations for survivors and their spouses.[17]

In 2007, she co-founded the Colour of Poverty Campaign (COPC), a campaign to address the increasing racialization of poverty in Ontario and currently serves as a steering committee member of COPC.[18] [19] She continued to serve in the organization, was a member of the steering committee in 2017.[20] [21]

In 2017, Go appeared before a Canadian Senate hearing to discuss the impact of high fees on immigration for the at risk communities she serves in her role at Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic.[22] [23]

Go was involved in a case involving a Chinese couple who had their rights as parents challenged because their DNA did not match the DNA of their child.[24] [25]

On August 6, 2021, Go was appointed to the Federal Court by Minister of Justice and Attorney General David Lametti.[26]

Awards and honours

Notes and References

  1. Book: Arlene Chan. The Chinese in Toronto from 1878: From Outside to Inside the Circle. 2011. Dundurn. 978-1-55488-979-2. 201–.
  2. Web site: 180 Portraits of the people who helped shape the city from March 6, 1834 to the present. deMars. Bruce. 1 March 2014. Press Reader. Toronto Star. 21 March 2017.
  3. Web site: Waterloo and the Order of Ontario - University of Waterloo: 60 Years of Innovation. 13 February 2017.
  4. Web site: Avvy Yao-Yao Go '89 - University of Toronto Faculty of Law. 2017-03-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20170321170148/http://www.law.utoronto.ca/about/brief-history/trailblazers/avvy-yao-yao-go-89. 2017-03-21. dead.
  5. Web site: Avvy Go. www.lco-cdo.org. 2017-02-13. 2017-02-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20170201211837/http://www.lco-cdo.org/en/avvy-go. dead.
  6. Book: Harald Bauder. Immigration Dialectic: Imagining Community, Economy, and Nation. registration. 2011. University of Toronto Press. 978-1-4426-1076-7. 101–.
  7. Web site: Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Community based legal clinic. mtcsalc.org. en. 2017-02-13.
  8. Web site: High fees blamed for sharp decrease in Canadian citizenship applications. KEUNG. NICHOLAS. February 24, 2017. Toronto Star. 2017-03-21.
  9. Web site: 'Widespread' workplace abuse persists for Chinese restaurant workers. MOJTEHEDZADEH. SARA. April 25, 2016. Toronto Star. 2017-03-21.
  10. News: Chinese restaurant workers underpaid and overworked, new report says. April 25, 2016. CBC News. 2017-03-21. en.
  11. News: Chinese signs divide resort-area owners near Algonquin Park. GRANT. TAVIA. October 14, 2016. The Globe and Mail. 2017-03-21. en-ca.
  12. Web site: Ending racial discrimination means overhauling our employment laws: Opinion. Go. Avvy. 21 March 2017. Toronto Star. 21 March 2017.
  13. News: Why video now plays a major role in probes of deaths linked to police. Long. Jamie. July 30, 2016. CBC News. 2017-03-21. en.
  14. Web site: AVVY GO TO REPLACE WENDY MATHESON AS BENCHER. July 1, 2013. Law Time.
  15. Mack v. Canada (Attorney General), [2002] O.J. No. 3488 (ONCA)
  16. Book: Jennifer Henderson. Reconciling Canada: Critical Perspectives on the Culture of Redress. Pauline Wakeham. University of Toronto Press. 2013. 978-1-4426-1168-9. 90–.
  17. News: PM offers apology, 'symbolic payments' for Chinese head tax. en-ca. The Globe and Mail. 2017-02-13.
  18. Web site: Avvy Go. Migrant Mothers Project. 2017-02-13.
  19. Web site: New Appointees to the Order of Ontario.
  20. News: Province takes aim at racism; Strategy includes collecting race-based data. March 8, 2017. Chronicle Journal. 21 March 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS.
  21. Web site: Ontario to tackle systemic racism through three-year strategic plan. Inside Toronto. 9 March 2017 . 2017-03-21.
  22. Web site: SCHNEIDEREIT. ERIKA. 2 March 2017. Immigration and citizenship: The financial barriers to becoming new Canadians. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170322020223/http://nationalmagazine.ca/Articles/March-2017/The-financial-barriers-to-becoming-new-Canadians.aspx. 22 March 2017. 2017-03-21. National.
  23. News: 2017-01-04. Immigrants peeved by federal government's switch to sponsorship lottery. The Hamilton Spectator. 2017-03-21.
  24. Web site: Siyi. March 2017. 多伦多大陆难民申请养女来加 移民官拒认一家人 - 无忧资讯. 2017-03-21. info.51.ca. zh-CN.
  25. Web site: March 2017. 因计生遭遗弃 中国女孩随养父移民加拿大受阻_加拿大家园网. 2017-03-21. www.iask.ca. 加拿大家园网版权所有家园简介.
  26. Web site: August 6, 2021. Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada announces judicial appointments to the Federal Court. Department of Justice.
  27. Web site: OBA.org - Avvy Yao Yao Go. www.oba.org. en. 2017-02-13.
  28. Web site: Go awarded Order of Ontario - The Gazette. 27 January 2014.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Avvy Go".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.