The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (Western Chapter) (“FACL Western”) covers the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as the northern territories.
Since November 2014, FACL Western has expanded from Calgary (2014) to Edmonton (2015), Winnipeg (2016) and Saskatoon (2017) with over 450 members spanning all levels of the legal community: students, associates, partners, in-house counsel, affiliates and judges.
Membership
Locations
Our Mission
We are a diverse coalition of Asian Canadian legal professionals
We promote equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian Canadian legal professionals and the community
We foster advocacy, community involvement, legal scholarship and professional development
our history
Lawyers in the Asian Canadian community met in 2007 to discuss forming a coalition of Asian Canadians in law. Support for this idea grew within the pan-Asian community and from these humble beginnings, the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) was born.
Its founding officers are:
Avvy Go, a former bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada
Judge Maryka Omatsu of the Ontario Court of Justice
Professor Julia Shin Doi, General Counsel of Ryerson University
FACL is a pan-Asian law association. We bridge barriers between our various communities. Inequality is endemic among visible minority immigrant communities and we strive to work together for the betterment of our communities. Within the legal profession, there are barriers at every level from entry into law school to becoming a senior partner or a judge. We want to address these barriers by encouraging students from under-represented communities to enter law school and to build skills through our mentoring program.
FACL Western is a chapter within FACL and spans Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The chapter officially launched on November 18, 2014.
The founding directors of FACL Western are Steven Ngo, Beverly Ma, Daniel Lo, Amy Yeung, Ron Lo, Zao Han, Chris Yan, Vivian Tran, Emmanuel Fung, David Tam and Carmen Lee.