Activities & Participants

Hundreds of participants volunteer their time to organize various activities throughout Alberta courthouses. 2009 activities included the cities of Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Fort McMurray, Drumheller, Edmonton and Calgary. Each year, typical events include public speaking contests for junior and senior high students; poster contests on “What the Law Means to Me” for elementary students and a High School Mock Trial competition. There are family friendly demonstration trials put on by members of the judiciary and the legal profession. Each year new citizens are sworn in as part of Citizenship Court in both Calgary and Edmonton. Tours of the courthouses are always very popular. Each year there are exhibition areas in each centre that have included drug and agriculture dog performances, and displays from Canada Customs, Alberta Fish & Wildlife, RCMP, Native Counseling, Family Counseling and Mediation Services, Legal Aid, and the John Howard Society. The popular “Ask a Lawyer” booth is active in both Edmonton and Calgary. Edmonton has also hosted demonstrations from the bomb squad, tactical team and fingerprinting.