Circle discussion at the U of S to explore opportunities for cross-cultural justice system

The recent cases involving Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine have highlighted continuing problems with the Canadian justice system when it applies to Indigenous victims and offenders.

 

Speakers Larry Chartrand, Michael Gatin and Marilyn Poitras will discuss how Indigenous law, customs and processes can become a greater part of a cross-cultural justice system in Canada; what the traditional legal response to these criminal trials would have been from an Indigenous perspective; and how Indigenous legal traditions can be respected and valued in today’s justice system.

 

 

 

“Many justice inquires have been held in Canada examining the impact of the criminal justice system on Indigenous peoples both as offenders and as victims,” said Chartrand. “Many recommendations have been made by these inquiries, but few have been implemented.” 

 

Chartrand is academic director of the U of S Native Law Centre, and a professor of law at the University of Ottawa. He has published extensively on issues of Indigenous rights, law and governance, with a particular focus on Métis identity and citizenship.

 

An Indigenous mediator and educator with Bridges Mediation Services, Gatin has extensive experience in building and mediating relationships between First Nations education authorities and Saskatchewan provincial education systems.

 

A scholar of Indigenous legal traditions, Poitras is a professor at the U of S College of Law, and former commissioner to the federal government’s National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

 

This event is presented by the McKercher Lecture Series at the College of Law.

Cat Bonner

Communications Officer
College of Law

University of Saskatchewan 


306-966-1062