Madam Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go, 2025 Alumni Achievement Award recipient
Madam Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go (BA ’86) has more than 30 years of advocacy and litigation experience in support of disadvantaged communities. In addition to her BA (Economics) from Waterloo, she holds an LL.B. from University of Toronto, and an LL.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School. She was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1991. In 2021 Justice Go became the first Chinese Canadian to be appointed to the Federal Court. Justice Go holds numerous honours and awards including the Order of Ontario (2014) and the Senate of Canada 150 award (2017).
Q and A with Justice Go
What guiding principles or values have driven your work and your success?
When I was practicing law at a community legal clinic serving low-income racialized clients, success to me meant being able to guide my clients through a complex and at times unfair legal system in order to achieve positive legal outcomes. Success also meant finding systemic and sustainable solutions for racialized and other marginalized communities in overcoming racism and other forms of structural discrimination, both in their every day lives and in the legal system.
I believe my prior work as an advocate was driven by my strong belief in the rule of law, and the role that the legal system could play to level the playing field through the principles of fairness, equity and justice.
Being appointed to the Federal Court, on the other hand, represents “success” in a professional sense. I am deeply honoured and I hope my appointment will encourage more racialized lawyers to apply to the bench.
How did your personal and professional perspectives work together in helping the campaign to redress the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act?
As a lawyer working with marginalized communities, and as a first generation Chinese Canadian, my personal and professional perspectives no doubt played a role in my desire to seek redress for the Chinese Canadian community. I was not working alone however. Instead, I worked alongside many community advocates, lawyers, head tax payers and families. When the political route hit a roadblock, we filed a lawsuit against the Canadian Government. After the lawsuit was dismissed, we continued to pursue redress through other means including lobbying and media campaigns. Finally, on June 22, 2006, the Government of Canada issued a parliamentary apology and provided symbolic redress to the surviving head tax payers and widows. The success of the campaign was a result of decades of collective efforts; it represents the resiliency of all the head tax payers and their families and their unwavering commitment to seeing justice done.
How did your time at the University of Waterloo influence your career path and professional achievements?
When I first came to Waterloo, I was new to Canada. Over the course of the next four years, I was supported and nurtured by my fellow students and members of the faculty. I applied to law school after finishing my third year as I was unsure what to do with a degree in Economics and Management Studies. Coincidentally, I took a course on Philosophy and the Law. I recall writing in my final exam why I disagreed with a point that the professor had made during the class, and in the end still earned an “A” for that course. I also remember one of the Economics professors commenting positively on my writing skills. So while no one at Waterloo was actively pushing me into law, some seeds were planted along the way through the encouraging words of one professor and the open-mindedness of another, which I deeply appreciate.