Law Times

Page 12 May 2, 2016 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com FOCUS TRC will have 'enduring' impact on law schools BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times T he Truth and Recon- ciliation Committee's report and recommen- dations will have "an en- during and positive impact" on the way Canadian law schools teach indigenous law and en- gage with First Nations com- munities, law deans say. In its 2015 report titled Calls to Action, the committee called upon all law schools across Canada to require law students to take a course in aboriginal law, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declara- tion on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, treaties and aboriginal rights, and the relationship be- tween aboriginal people and the Crown. "This will require skills- based training in intercultural competency, conf lict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism," the TRC report said. Law deans across the coun- try are now thinking of ways to consider and implement the recommendations, according to William Flanagan, law dean at Queen's University. Flanagan says instead of cre- ating a separate aboriginal law course requirement, the solu- tion is to embed components of indigenous law throughout law school curriculums. "The themes of aboriginal law and indigenous law need to be themes that are woven throughout the program and not isolated in a standalone course because so much of ab- original law and indigenous law touches on different areas," Fla- nagan said. "Criminal law, con- stitutional law, and public law are just some examples." Lorne Sossin, dean of Os- goode Hall Law School, says the TRC's findings have led to a "broader indigenization proj- ect" at the school. "In other words, it's a way of introducing, exposing, and vali- dating indigenous approaches to law and the impact of law on indigenous communities throughout the law school cur- riculum and community," Sos- sin says. "It's holistic; it's not just what we're doing in the curricu- lum, which is principally what the TRC was focused on," Sos- sin adds, noting the law school is infusing the spirit of the recom- mendations in its admissions process and various student services. "I do feel the TRC process and Calls to Action will have an enduring and positive impact on the way law schools approach engagement with indigenous law and indigenous communi- ties in legal education," Sossin says. In a February letter to Justice Murray Sinclair, the chair of the TRC, the Council of Canadian Law Deans expressed similar sentiments. "Though the structures and curricula of Canadian law schools have many similarities, each of them is a distinct entity with its own practices and pro- cesses. In the context of the am- bitious agenda outlined through the Call to Action, we interpret the recommendation that 'all law students take a course' not as necessarily requiring the creation of a single mandatory stand-alone course but as cre- ating room for many different kinds of instructional and cul- tural activities within and be- yond law school curricula that would serve to promote recon- ciliation," said McGill Univer- sity law dean Daniel Jutras, who wrote on the council's behalf. "These would include cours- es focused specifically on ab- original law or indigenous legal traditions; the incorporation of aboriginal material or discus- sion of aboriginal perspectives as relevant in a range of cours- es; cultural training activities; community engagement initia- tives; and research projects ad- dressing Aboriginal themes," Jutras continued. Jutras said these approaches would ensure aboriginal con- tent and perspectives go into "all dimensions of law school opera- tions." "We commit to deliberate within our respective collegial decision-making bodies with a view to ensuring that all law stu- dents gain effective learning op- portunities with respect to the knowledge and skills outlined in Call to Action #28," Jutras added. Flanagan says that, as a re- sult of the TRC report, his law school is looking to expand the aboriginal law component in a mandatory first-year course in legal skills. He also said Queens University's law school will cre- ate an endowment fund for ab- original students. "There's a great deal of inter- est and goodwill in responding to the TRC report" among law deans, Flanagan said. "We're also learning a great deal from one another because each of us does different things in different parts of the country in terms of responding to the TRC report and we spend quite a bit of time exchanging ideas and thoughts about best prac- tices." In its report, the TRC said the criminal prosecution of abusers in residential schools and the subsequent civil lawsuits were a difficult experience for survi- vors partly due to counsel's lack of knowledge and sensitivity to the issues involved. "The courtroom experience was made worse by the fact that many lawyers did not have ad- equate cultural, historical, or psychological knowledge to deal with the painful memories that the Survivors were forced to re- veal," the TRC report said. "The lack of sensitivity that lawyers often demonstrated in dealing with residential school survivors resulted, in some cases, in the survivors' not re- ceiving appropriate legal ser- vice. These experiences prove the need for lawyers to develop a greater understanding of ab- original history and culture as well as the multi-faceted legacy of residential schools." According to Signa Daum Shanks, aboriginal law profes- sor at Osgoode Hall Law School, the impact of the TRC's report will be similar to the result of the feminism movement. "The his- tory of feminism has helped ev- erybody talk more broadly and safely about issues. That's how [the TRC] will change us. We're going to make us listen and learn more deeply," she says. LT Lorne Sossin, dean of Osgoode Hall Law School, says the TRC's findings have led to a 'broader indigenization project' at the school. $ $ SURVEY CLOSES MAY 9, 2016 Untitled-3 1 2016-04-26 3:17 PM The themes of aboriginal law and indigenous law need to be themes that are woven throughout the program and not isolated in a standalone course because so much of aboriginal law and indigenous law touches on different areas. William Flanagan Check out lawtimesnews.com for insight from our regular online columnists Darcy Merkur brings a plaintiff-side perspective on insurance matters in Personal Injury Law

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