Synopsis
We are proud to present the next installment of the Supportive Relationships dialogue series.
This dialogue series is focused on supportive relationships between BC's Indigenous and Pan-Asian communities, working together in the past, present, and future.
Change-makers, Kevin Huang, Founder of the Hua Foundation; Aaron Samuel, Pivot Legal Society; and, Corporal Chris Gosselin, Head of the RCMP's first all-Indigenous policing unit, address questions, such as:
- What does truth and reconciliation look like to you and/or your communities?
- What are some ways to build cross cultural solidarity?
- What are some ways to decolonize public spaces and structures in BC?
Attendees of the session will be asked to watch the pre-recorded interviews provided by these change-makers in preparation to engage in a round-table discussion which will be moderated by Professor Hoi Kong, UBC Peter A. Allard School of Law.
About Kevin Huang
Kevin Huang (he/him) is the co-founder and executive director of hua foundation, an organization – based in Vancouver - with the mission of empowering youth in the Asian diaspora to fully participate in advancing social change through exploring racialized identities and building resilience in communities.
His work has ranged from scaling culturally sensitive consumer-based conservation strategies through a project called Shark Truth, advancing municipal food policy to address inclusion and racial equity, to providing supports for youth from ethnocultural communities to reclaim their cultural identity on their own terms.
Kevin organizes in Vancouver’s Chinatown and serves on committees with Vancity Credit Union, Vancouver Foundation, the City of Vancouver, and the Province of British Columbia.
Most recently, Kevin has been spending his time directing community based COVID-19 response projects that address language and cultural gaps
About Aaron Samuel
Aaron is nehiyaw (Plains Cree) and Caribbean from Treaty 6 territory (Edmonton). He is the current secretary and board member with Pivot Legal Society. He holds a JD with a Specialization in Aboriginal Law from the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia.
Aaron's work is rooted in working with Indigenous communities throughout Canada. He has previously worked with various First Nations and Métis communities at both the private and public sector level.
About Corporal Chris Gosselin
Corporal Christopher Gosselin has been a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for the last 20 years and is currently in charge of the first ever Urban Indigenous policing team in BC.
In 2010, Corporal Gosselin received the Order of Merit of the Police Forces in Ottawa from the Governor General of Canada. Corporal Gosselin is a band member of an Ojibway community in Manitoba.
About Professor Hoi Kong
For the 2020-2021 academic year, Professor Kong will be a Scholar at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.
Professor Hoi Kong is the inaugural holder of The Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, P.C., UBC Professorship in Constitutional Law, which he assumed in 2018. He researches and teaches in the areas of constitutional, administrative, municipal and comparative law, and constitutional and public law theory.
Prior to joining the Allard School of Law, Professor Kong was an Assistant and then Associate Professor at McGill University’s Faculty of Law, where he served a term as Associate Dean (Academic). He was previously an Assistant Professor of Law, cross-appointed with the School of Urban Planning at Queen’s University, and an Associate-in-Law at the Columbia Law School. Professor Kong clerked for Justice L’Heureux-Dubé and Justice Deschamps at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Over the years, Professor Kong has received a number of accolades for his teaching. These include the Queen’s University Law Students’ Society Teaching Excellence Award; the John W. Durnford Award for Teaching Excellence, awarded by McGill’s Law Students’ Association; and McGill University’s Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
In 2017, he received the Canadian Association of Law Teachers’ Academic Excellence Award, for outstanding contributions to teaching and research in law.
Professor Kong co-directs with Professor Ron Levy the Project on Deliberative Governance and Law. He is also on the board of directors of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Montreal and the executive editorial board of the American Journal of Comparative Law.
