 Welcome everyone, the students, the family, the faculty and the staff. My name is Richard Devlin and I'm the acting dean of the Schuler School of Law. It's been three years at the law school, two years in person, one year online. And particularly this last year has been a real challenge for all of you. But you have come through it. You've worked hard, you've been flexible, you've been adaptable, you've been nimble. And you will be the most emphasis classes, the class of 2021, the class of the pandemic. So I want to thank everyone for all your hard work. I want to congratulate you and encourage you to go forward. Decide the well-introduction of Unselfish Public Service and represent Dalhousie in the larger world, the larger community. Take care everyone, look after yourselves. Hello everyone, I am so excited to be finally standing here saying congratulations on finishing law school. I remember it just like it was yesterday, sitting in room 105 and having someone tell us to slow down and remember the next three years because they will fly by in an instant. And boy was that the truth. I am so excited to see what our class will accomplish in the future. Congratulations on behalf of the LSS. Class of 2021, you did it. And what amazing stories you'll have. On behalf of Student Services, congratulations on this incredible accomplishment. I wish you health and happiness on your path forward. Congratulations Class of 2021. Wherever life takes you in the next steps of your journey, please remember that you will always hold a special place in the hearts and minds of us at the law school as an inspiration for what is possible in the face of great challenge. Hey Class of 2021, congratulations you made it. It is a testament to your perseverance and strength to finish law school in a pandemic. Look if you can do this, you can pretty well do anything. You should be super proud of yourselves. I am really proud of you. I'm also really happy and excited for you. And I wish you nothing but the best in your coming career. Congratulations Class of 2021. On behalf of the CDO, we wish you all the best in your life and your career. Please come back and see us and share your stories with future students. All the best. I would first like to extend my congratulations to the Class of 2021 on all your success. It has been your perseverance and dedication that has brought you to this day. And as you go forth into your legal careers, the decisions you make will impact countless lives. You are the ones who will uphold justice in its many forms. You are really the change makers of the future. So please remember that there are many communities who have not seen this justice system serve them. So as you start your careers, do not forget your responsibility to make this justice system really this future more equitable for us all. Congratulations Class of 2021. Hey graduating class of 2021, you made it. It's been a particular challenge for you. And in fact, I think you guys have overcome challenges unlike almost any generation of Delaware grads. So very well done. Be proud of yourselves. We're certainly proud of you. Stay in touch with us. We're always interested to know what you're doing. Don't forget us when you're famous. Rely on one another. There's nothing like your classmates in the future to get you through tough times. And I'm sure you guys are one of the most resilient classes we've had. Congratulations and be excellent to one another. Hello everyone. As you know, I was Associate Dean for most of your years here in law school. So I'm familiar with most of you. I wish things were different and I could extend my congratulations to yours across your stage at Convocation. But I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to every one of you for a job really well done and please keep in touch. So here we are another Convocation and you are not here. We miss you so much, but we wish you all the best in the future and congratulations on surviving three years of law school. Congratulations class of 2021. You have thrived through law school during a pandemic. You have faced whatever life threw at you over the last few very tough years. And now it's time to actually take a moment and enjoy, celebrate and be proud of your accomplishments. It was such a privilege to be a witness to your journey inside and outside of classroom. Your journey of becoming these amazing, strong, compassionate and caring lawyers. The profession will be so much better with you in it. And of course, I feel compelled to conclude by sending a big shout out to all of you that I had the privilege and pleasure of teaching directly, of learning from directly, of working with in various capacities and especially to Section A. Forever in my heart. Thank you for putting up with all my techy murder jokes. Congratulations on your achieving this milestone in your careers. Even more so that you've done it in the face of this world pandemic crisis. I wish we had been together in the last year in the classroom. I wish I were with you today on your graduation day, but nonetheless, I join you in your celebration. And I wish you good luck and I sincerely hope we'll keep in touch. So have a great day. Enjoy this time with your families. Week one, questioning law school decision. That's life in law school. Footnote one, LRW has a period fixation. Note two, period. Got my two L course readings. Questioning. Supernote one. Pandemic in the second semester. IBID. Heard exams in my PJs. Note five. Year three in a pandemic. Note six, but also questioning. Supernote one. About to graduate. Note seven. Congrats from the library on three foot notable years. Hey class of 2021. I've taught at least two thirds of you. So I figured I'd pop on here and wish you a hearty congratulations. You've done it. Well done. It's been a joy to teach you and to know you. And I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Congratulations. Hey guys, congratulations on finishing law school. I hope you guys have made a lot of great memories in your time with us. And just to my class, my ADR class, who are all graduating this year. It was really great to get to know you guys. And I'm looking forward to seeing how you guys change the world. On behalf of the Dalhousie Law Alumni Association and our 8000 plus law alumni from all around the world, I'd like to welcome you to our alumni family. Although we're not able to gather in person right now, we look forward to seeing you soon at one of our many events or celebrations either here in Halifax or a city near you. We deeply value our alumni family and will create many opportunities to keep you engaged with the law school after you leave. On behalf of all of us, we wish you every success and happiness. Congratulations. Hi everybody. It's Camille Cameron here. I really missed you this year. We've all missed you in various ways given the strange circumstances we've been through. But now you're here. You're at the end of your journey. Congratulations. You really deserve all that congratulations. Looking forward to seeing you as alumni. Can you believe it? You're going to be alumni and you're already alumni. Boom, lawyer. Good afternoon fellow graduates, faculty and staff of the Schulich School of Law and family and friends. My name is Arthur Ferguson and I have the honor and privilege of delivering the valedictorian speech for the Class of 2021. I'd like to begin by acknowledging that we are in Magmaughey, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Magmaughey people. In making this acknowledgement, we must consider what it means in practice and in the context of today's events. This territory is under the Treaties of Peace and Friendship which was signed between the Magmaughey and Malassee people and the British Crown in 1725. These treaties did not deal with the surrender of lands and resources and in fact recognized Magmaughey and Malassee title and established a set of rules that was to govern the nation-to-nation relationship. As we all know too well, Canada did not uphold its end of the bargain. The result is a system that has and continues to be used as a tool of oppression and discrimination against Indigenous people. As future lawyers, it is imperative that we use our positions to actively seek to understand and ultimately dismantle the legacy of colonization that pervades Canadian law. Despite how far we have come, we have so much further to go. And with that, I would begin my remarks. To the faculty and staff of the Schulich School of Law, thank you for the opportunity to learn in a setting that was always open, welcome and honest. To acting Dean Devlin and Dean Cameron, thank you for your leadership over the past three years. To the family and friends of the graduating class, your encouragement and support has meant everything. Especially in a year where so many of us occupying childhood bedrooms, basements and kitchen tables. Most of you likely never expected to experience the final year of law school at such close proximity. I think I can speak for everyone when I say thank goodness it's over. And finally to my fellow graduates, congratulations. Today, for all of us, marks the culmination of three formative years together. It is the friendships that have been forged over this time that will sustain us in both our professional and personal lives for years to come. It is the people we accomplish this achievement with that we will remember long after today. In the time I have, I want to pose four questions to you that have helped me reflect on this moment. When former Senator Justice Murray Sinclair visited our class during the first week of law school, he explained that the purpose of education is to address four essential questions. Where do we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? And who are we? I think the answer to those questions can help guide us as we leave the familiar routines of Shulik and confront the unknowns that our careers will inevitably offer. While truly answering these questions will likely take a lifetime, the past three years have certainly given me a greater understanding of what those answers could look like. The first question, where do we come from? When I walked through those doors three years ago, I was curious, curious about all of you, your backgrounds, interests, goals, and personalities. And I was curious about what law school really meant. My curiosity about all of you evolved into friendships. My curiosity about law school transformed into a passion. But it didn't happen overnight. When we began, I hardly knew what kind of person I wanted to be, let alone what kind of lawyer I wanted to be. I learned that while the career possibilities were myriad, the answers I was looking for were going to be found in the relationships I formed and the experiences I pursued. What I discovered was that you cannot effectively advocate for others if you do not understand where you come from and you don't have a desire to understand the experiences of others. Here I learned that the values you bring are as good as the skills you learn. The second question, why are we here? Over the course of this journey, I often found myself, I often found my curiosity leading me to uncomfortable places. But it was in these places where I learned the most. My first time in prison was one of these. I was there to give a presentation on the legal rights for prisoners, but I quickly realized I only understood how the system was supposed to work, not how it actually worked. I spent most of my time that afternoon listening to prisoners who understood the system in a way I never will. I have learned that simply because something is legal doesn't mean it is just. I have realized that part of what we have been taught is how much more must be done. Because for too many people, the law and the system it upholds has not protected them, simply because of the color of their skin and where they are from. Soon we will all be participating in this system. We have been given the skills required to challenge and change it. When you have the opportunity to make something legal a little more just, remember these skills. This leads me to my third question. Where are we going? Rosalie Abella, who will be retiring, Justice Rosalie Abella, who will be retiring from the Supreme Court of Canada this coming July once said, In a world that too often feels like it is spinning out of control, we need a legal profession that worries about what the world looks and feels like for those who are most vulnerable. I believe, and I hope all of you believe, that this profession is one of consequence and importance. It also comes with responsibility. We have a responsibility to use this education to improve the lives of those around us. Our purpose is to ensure that this system upholds and reflects our collective values. Our responsibility is to take action when it fails. Finally, we need to answer, who are we? Today, we are all members of the 2021 graduating class of the Schulich School of Law. This is not the ceremony any of us imagined, and it hasn't been the final year so many of us were looking forward to. It has been a year that has challenged all of us in ways big and small, easily described, and heard it put into words. But we are more than this year, and we have more than met these challenges. I hope today, every one of you is able to realize what you have accomplished and who you have become. I leave Schulich knowing the immense possibility that this class represents, and I am so proud to call all of you classmates, friends, and colleagues. Thank you for the opportunity to speak, and here's to good friends. I wish they were here.