Victoria Réaume admits she was something of a novelty when she enrolled in Western Law as an adult student. If she wasn’t the only one of her classmates who arrived after years as a postal worker and proud member of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, there couldn’t have been too many others.
“I really believed in that union. It was a great union. Very democratic, very left,” she said. “When I saw the lawyers who were presenting arbitrations on behalf of the union, I thought, they’re working for workers’ rights in a very interesting way. I saw for the first time that lawyers could do important work in the social justice arena. They were amazing.”
Réaume, LLB’88, later practised labour law with Cavalluzzo Shilton McIntyre Cornish LLP, ranked by Chambers Global 2014 as one of the best union-side firms in Canada. Last year, she left private practice to become chief executive – or general secretary – for one of her clients, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).
ETFO represents 76,000 teachers and education professionals, making it the largest teachers’ union in Canada. Réaume says that not only has she loved working with teachers over the years, she believes ETFO is a particularly honourable organization because it puts principles first, such as pursuing equity and advancing the work and goals of women.
“Teachers are just great people. I loved meeting them and hearing their stories. They truly believe in fairness.”
You can see her love of education and learning come alive in her background.
Her years as a postal worker sparked not only her interest in unions and workers’ rights, but also awakened an academic yearning. She started with the post office immediately after graduating from high school in Burlington. After four years, she requested a transfer to Québec City to immerse herself in French, which is her heritage. Réaume worked the midnight shift at the post office so she could devote her days to earning a degree in French language and literature from Laval University.
She wrote the LSAT on a lark and did well. That brought her to Western Law, where the former postal worker and union activist sat alongside classmates who eventually found their way to Bay Street.
“I was a bit of a novelty,” she said. She recalls law school as a growth experience. It introduced her to a new way to look at the world, something she finds helpful in her current role. “Law school pushed us to adopt a rigorous, analytical approach to everything. That helps you later in life, no matter what you do.”
Upon graduation, she was wooed to article with McCarthy Tétrault. It was a tough choice — she really didn’t want to work for a management firm on Bay Street. Yet at the time, the firm represented the nurses’ union and was also grappling with Ontario’s new pay equity law.
“They said, ‘Come article with us, it’ll be a great experience. You’ll get to see all aspects of law.’ And it was a great experience,” she said.
After her call to the bar in 1990, she joined union-side labour boutique Cavalluzzo, where she became a partner after seven years. She remained there for 23 years, primarily as a litigator doing arbitrations.
Yet, her real love, she says, was getting involved with union strategy and policy. She got so interested that she decided to become an executive with ETFO.
“I just love it. The issues are complex and interesting.”
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