"The Role of Courts in Reconciliation"

Aboriginal Law Section Webinar

Recording

DESCRIPTION:

 In honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 (Orange Shirt Day), please join the CBA-NS for this important conversation on the role of courts in the truth and reconciliation process. We will discuss the recent appointment of Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada and what having an Indigenous Justice on the SCC will mean for the judicial system across the country.

SPEAKERs

 Justice Aleta Cromwell, Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Justice Aleta Cromwell is Mi’kmaw from Membertou, an Indigenous community located in Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island), and African Nova Scotian from Whitney Pier. Justice Cromwell articled and practised law with the Nova Scotia Department of Justice, Legal Services Division from 1998 to 2020 as a solicitor and a civil litigator, handling general litigation and child protection and adult protection matters. Following a six-month secondment to the Schulich School of Law as the Acting Director of the Indigenous Blacks & Mi’kmaq Initiative, she was appointed to the Provincial and Family Court of Nova Scotia in July 2020 and sat in the Provincial Court in Halifax. She received her Queen’s Counsel designation in 2018 and was the recipient of the Canadian Bar Association – Nova Scotia 2019 Community Service Award. The Justice Cromwell was is appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Family Division in March of 2022. 

Jarvis Googoo, Health - Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat

Jarvis Googoo was raised in We’koqma’q, Unama’kik, attended an Indian Day School from 1985 to 1993, and graduated from a Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey school. He holds degrees from Saint Mary’s University (cum laude), Dalhousie Law School, and is a non-practicing member of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society.
Jarvis has spoken and presented at many events, including Dalhousie Law School and Medical School, the Nova Scotia Physiotherapy Association, Girl Guides of Canada and Scouts Canada, and led the development of the Donald Marshall Junior Memorial Award. He also possesses knowledge on Indigenous law, and Mi’kmaw history, culture, and language, often acting as a cultural language resource and liaison.
He is an avid runner and completed the Boston Marathon in April 2022. He volunteers on the management boards for both Run Nova Scotia as well as the Blue Nose Marathon. He lives in Kjipuktuk/Dartmouth with his wife Kerrianne and their Sheltie Looloo.

Moderator: Michiko Gartshore, Stewart McKelvey

Michiko Gartshore is a proud Indigenous woman from Fredericton, NB. She is Cree and Dene and her family is from the Treaty 10 territory and Fredericton, NB. While attending law school, Michiko was the President of the Indigenous Law Students Association and sat on the UNB Law TRC: Calls to Action Committee. In her third year of law school, Michiko welcomed a daughter, Loxley. Michiko's passion is Indigenous and Aboriginal Law with a focus on economic development for Indigenous communities. Michiko is currently articling with Stewart McKelvey in Fredericton, NB.