Another Great Year for CLA's Student Chapters
As another school year comes to a close, it's a good time to highlight all of the amazing activities undertaken by our 14 student chapters at law schools across the country.Each year, CLA picks a theme relating to law and development for our chapters to learn about, think about steps Canada can take to address the issue(s), and engage in activities raising awareness of the issue. This year, CLA focused on Indigenous Rights and the steps that Canada can and should be taking to increase access to justice for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples.CLA believes that it is extremely important that as the future of the legal profession, all law students should be more knowledgeable about Indigenous rights and the challenges and barriers faced by Aboriginal Peoples in exercising these rights. This includes understanding the historical context, including residential schools and forced assimilation, and recognizing that the disadvantaged social and economic conditions in which Aboriginal Peoples live is a justice issue.Early in the school year, all of our student presidents from across the country came together in Ottawa for leadership training and to explore the issue of Indigenous rights. You can read all about the amazing activities that took place here. Then, over the year, our chapters engaged in a wide array of activities that did a great job of raising awareness about this year's theme.The University of British Columbia chapter hosted a talk on reserves and human rights in Canada by law professor Darlene Johnson.
Professor Darlene Johnson and UBC students
The University of Saskatchewan chapter volunteered at a three-day conference called Our Way: The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Law-Making.
Mayor of Iqaluit, Madeleine Redfern and Drew Arruda, U of S chapter President
The University of Ottawa CLA chapter co-hosted a conference on Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation, featuring a keynote speech by Justice Murray Sinclair, head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as great talks by Cindy Blackstock (Executive Director of First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada), Max Faille (National Leader of Gowlings Aboriginal Law Group), Sarah Morales (Professor at the University of Ottawa.
Justice Murray Sinclair speaks at uOttawa
Le comité Avocats canadiens à l’étranger de l’Université de Montréal a publié l'édition 2012 de son journal bilingue, Perspectives internationales/International Perspectives, sur le thème le droit autochtone/Aboriginal law. Vous pouvez le trouver ici.Other amazing chapter events included a moot court on the proposed Plan Nord (Universite de Montreal), a discussion on the Missing Women Inquiry (University of Victoria), and a documentary screening on the Mushuau Innu (Queen's University).It's been a great year for our student chapters! We are ending our school year with a bang at our Rights of Spring Cocktail Party on April 26 in Toronto. Our keynote speaker is Former Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine. Madeleine Redfern, the mayor of Iqaluit and a member of our Advisory Board, will also be speak about law and justice issues in Nunavut. Please join us for a wonderful FREE evening!
CLA would like to thank LexisNexis Canada Inc. and The Dominion for their generous sponsorship of our Student Program.