In recognition of decades spent on the legal frontlines advocating for injured workers and a more just workers’ compensation system, IWC’s John McKinnon recently received Osgoode Hall Law school’s Dianne Martin Medal for Social Justice Through Law.
In a career that began as a law student volunteer at Parkdale CLS, he has continued to focus on representing low-income and marginalized clients through Ontario’s community legal clinic system. After working as staff lawyer with Parkdale and Central Toronto (Kensington-Bellwood) clinics, John joined Injured Workers Consultants in 1989, providing legal leadership as Executive Director. Co-chair for many years of the Ontario Legal Clinics’ Workers’ Compensation Network (OLCWCN), he continues to serve also on the executive team of the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario (ACLCO) contributing to strategies to strengthen the clinic system and legal aid program.
As noted by a former co-worker, his approach in handling the appeal cases of individual injured workers is “a study in patience, empathy and persistence. Once the file is opened, John ensures that justice is sought as far as is possible. A case which might seem hopeless, will spring to life in John’s hands.” Dedicated also to making system-wide change through test cases and workers’ compensation law and policy reforms, with his customary humility John would attribute his many achievements to the power of collaboration and working in teams within the clinic and externally. This he continues to do through active participation in legal networks such as OLCWCN and by supporting the injured worker community, including the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups, to undertake their own reform and self-advocacy initiatives.
John shares his encyclopedic knowledge of workers’ compensation law and its history through legal education, clinics training & support, as well as through regular information exchanges and workshops with the injured worker community. Injecting creativity and humour into the clinic’s popular education campaigns, he has successfully raised public awareness of problematic workers’ compensation issues. In addition to in-house analysis, he continues to support inclusive worker-focused research projects that value shared expertise and experiences, such as the six-year Research Action Alliance on the Consequences of Work Injury (2006-2012) for which he was a partner lead.
John’s energy and commitment to access to justice combined with his intellect and curiosity has made him a highly respected member of both the Ontario legal clinic community and the injured worker/workers compensation world. He has quietly and tirelessly dedicated himself to working for social justice through law.
The staff and Board of IWC warmly congratulate him on receiving this award.
