WHAT ARE YOU UP TO NOW?
I recently completed a summer term as the Cowan Intern at the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal (NSCA). The Internship is named in honour of the Honourable Gordon Stewart Cowan, a former Chief Justice of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and a distinguished graduate of Dalhousie Law School. In this role I supported the work of the justices of the NSCA by completing a research report on the future of virtual courts and its impact on access to justice in Nova Scotia. In September I will commence my last year of studies at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. To complement my studies I have been selected to represent Dalhousie at the Bowman National Tax Moot and to participate in a Student Clerkship at the NSCA. I am also conducting an independent research study under Dean Kim Brooks on the discrepancy between the federal charitable donation tax credit and political contributions tax credit.
POST-INTERNSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
Since the internship, I served a summer as a Parliamentary Assistant in the Office of MP Larry Maguire (Brandon-Souris). In September 2020 I commenced my JD at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. Since then I have received The Arthur Allister MacBain Memorial Scholarship, the H. Carl Goldenberg, Q.C. Prize in Public Law, the Estate of E. Bligh Scholarship for public service, the Fasken Prize for academic merit, the Schulich Scholarship in Law, the Frank Covert Memorial Scholarship, and the Robert Batt Memorial Award for Constitutional Law. Throughout law school I have developed a keen interest in Tax, Criminal, and Constitutional Law. I spent the summer of 2021 working at Stewart McKelvey (Atlantic Canada's largest law firm) and will be completing my articles there upon graduation.
HIGHLIGHT FROM THE INTERNSHIP
The Internship provided an invaluable experience! As someone who's always been interested in politics it was amazing to experience first hand how Parliament works and how changes are made to existing laws and policies. I really enjoyed staffing my MP at meetings of the Justice Committee that at the time was dealing with issues including MAiD, conversion therapy, and sexual assault awareness training for federally appointed judges. Most notably, while working for MP Maguire he introduced his Private Members' Bill (PMB) which was subsequently passed into law a year after I left his office. Most importantly of all, I made incredible friendships and am still in touch with many of my former colleagues. In July I visited many of them and was even presented with a framed, signed copy of Larry's PMB!
HOW DID THE INTERNSHIP HELP YOU GET WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
Working on the Hill is an experience many never have and gave me incredible insights into how Parliament (actually) works and how things really get accomplished. I also gained an interest in tax law through supporting the work of MP Maguire's Private Members' Bill which has comprised a major component of my studies and something I hope to focus in on throughout my career!