Law Times

Law Times • June 20, 2016 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com Legal leaders launch aboriginal education program BY JENNIFER BROWN Law Times A Six Nations lawyer whose grandfather was the first registered ab- original lawyer in On- tario is challenging the in-house bar to ensure it is doing all it can to give indigenous people equal access to opportunities in the corporate sector. Speaking at the Legal Leaders for Diversity fifth annual meet- ing June 9 in Toronto, Kathleen Lickers spoke passionately about her own family experience. A Six Nations of the Grand River lawyer in private practice, Lick- ers has acted as external adviser to the Office of the Auditor Gen- eral of Canada and adviser to the Assembly of First Nations. Her grandfather was the youngest child of six born on the Six Nations reserve. He was placed in a residential school at the age of seven — the Mohawk Institute, in Brantford, Ont. He excelled at school and was taken under the wing of a teacher who encouraged him in his stud- ies. He stayed at the residential school for his entire education. He went to high school at Brantford Collegiate Institute but remained in residence at the Mo- hawk Institute. When he complet- ed high school, it was the power of the Indian agent to approve a reg- istered Indian's capacity to go on to post-secondary education. The Indian agent approved and Lickers applied to the Uni- versity of Western Ontario and earned a degree in economics and political science. From there he went on to Osgoode Law School and entered law school in 1934. He was called to the bar in 1938. At the time, legislation dic- tated that any aboriginal person who sought professional educa- tion, such as a doctor, lawyer, or member of the clergy, would be- come "enfranchised" but would lose band membership under the Indian Act. "Enfranchisement was the Canadian legal process whereby a person ceased to be an Indian within Canadian law, and it car- ried with it the total loss of band membership, which meant that, practically speaking, a person could no longer hold property or reside within their community. For a large part of Canada's histo- ry, this was the law," said Lickers. "The law made it incongruent for a registered Indian to be both registered and a professional. To do so, the law required an Indian to deny themselves one part of their identity to embrace a pro- fession. That law operated until 1927," she said. Within seven years of that law being repealed, Norman Edgar Lickers would enter law school and become the first "fully reg- istered Indian in Ontario" to be called to the bar in 1938. In 1948, he became Crown counsel to a joint house senate examination of the Indian Act. Lickers said she didn't know the story of her grandfather until she was in her third year of law school. He had died during her last year of high school. In 1959, he had been disbarred, accused of misappropriation of funds, and lost his licence after a rather abbreviated disciplinary hearing. "Because of the shame of los- ing that licence, my family never spoke about my grandfather's legal career," she said. "He never spoke to me about his legal career." In a conversation with her mother during her third year in law school, her mother told her the story of her grandfather. "I'm telling you this because, while he lost his licence, having survived the residential school experience, gaining the law de- gree, serving in the practice of law, becoming disbarred, re- turning back to the reserve — he never let any one of those life ex- periences define him. What he chose to do in his later years was take the same skills and abilities and transform the Mohawk In- stitute. He turned it into a cul- tural education centre, and that's what it is today," Lickers said her mother told her. Lickers said much of what affects indigenous people in Canada today isn't the "grand overtures of law anymore, it's the subtleness of policy and de- cision-making that ref lects an attitude that diminishes." "I challenge you, as general counsel, to examine what your policies are," she said. To aid in making that happen, Ken Fredeen, general counsel for Deloitte LLP, announced that LLD is launching a continuing legal education module in part- nership with Thomson Reuters, under the direction of Jeffery Hewitt of the Rama Band First Nation, to address the issue of reconciliation with First Nations. Simon Fish, executive vice president and general counsel at BMO, spoke about the role business can have in investing in Canada's First Nations. The Truth and Reconcilia- tion Commission issued 94 calls to action. In his remarks, Fish focused on a call to action that comes at the end of the report for the corporate sector in Canada. The TRC calls on the Cana- dian business sector to "adopt the United Nations Declara- tion on the Rights of Indig- enous Peoples as a reconcilia- tion framework and to apply its principles, norms and standards to corporate policy and core op- erational activities involving in- digenous peoples and their lands and resources." "These are important recom- mendations and ones we in the business community should strive to adopt," Fish said. Fish said aboriginal banking at BMO has become "big business." "Our book is currently some- where around $3.5 billion. It is one of our fastest-growing books — nearly 20 per cent growth per annum," he said. "The truth about aboriginal banking is not only is it a good investment, it's one of our best investments. Building on strong relationships with our First Na- tions communities is part of what the TRC calls on the busi- ness community to do. Working with our First Nations commu- nity is a long-term investment. To succeed, you need to think about consultation and provid- ing employment. We should be thinking about sharing eco- nomic benefit." LT NEWS Thanks to your generosity, The Toronto Star Children's Charities can bring a breath of fresh air and Christmas gifts to 80,000Toronto area youngsters each year. The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund helps send 25,000 disabled and disadvantaged kids to summer camp. The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund delivers gifts and food to 55,000 underprivileged children. To donate by cheque, clip this ad and mail to: The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund OR The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund One Yonge St., Toronto, ON M5E 1E6 Donate by calling (416) 869-4847 OR online by credit card to: thestar.com/freshairfund OR thestar.com/santaclausfund Bring a big smile to 80,000 little faces Untitled-2 1 2016-06-13 3:07 PM Speakers at the Legal Leaders for Diversity annual meeting Ken Fredeen of Deloitte, Six Nations of the Grand River lawyer Kathleen Lickers, and Simon Fish of BMO discuss how to increase Canadians' engagement with indigenous issues. Photo: Jennifer Brown CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS To advertise in our next charitable organizations issue, contact us at 416-649-8841 or CarswellMedia.Sales@thomsonreuters.com Calling all charitable organizations!

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