Title

Ontario appoints Marian Jacko (LLM ’05) new Children’s Lawyer

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-25-2016

Abstract

Marian Jacko will serve as Ontario's new Children's Lawyer as of November 28, 2016.

Ms. Jacko was called to the Bar in 1998. She has four university degrees, including a Master of Social Work from University of Toronto and a Master of Laws, Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution, from Osgoode Hall.

She has spent much of her career working on behalf of children in Ontario, including 17 years in the service of the Office of the Children's Lawyer where she was team leader for the civil litigation practice group and acting deputy legal director for the property rights department, among other roles.

In 2015, she joined the Aboriginal Justice Division of the Ministry of the Attorney General as legal counsel, where she provided strategic legal and policy advice on all matters concerning Indigenous peoples in Ontario.

Ms. Jacko has most recently served as legal counsel to the Motherisk Commission, where she provided advice on Indigenous issues.

An Ojibway from the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve on Manitoulin Island, Ms. Jacko is very active within the Indigenous community. She has served as a member and president of the board of directors of Aboriginal Legal Services, she volunteers with the Little Native Hockey League executive and helped coach Team Ontario in the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships. Ms. Jacko also serves as president of the Mississauga Girls Hockey League.

The Office of the Children's Lawyer is part of the Ministry of the Attorney General and delivers programs in the administration of justice on behalf of children under the age of 18. Children's lawyers are appointed by a judge to independently represent a child's legal interests in various areas of law, including child custody and access disputes, property and estate matters, child protection proceedings and civil litigation.

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