Podcasts

Episode 20: Remodeling Canadian Legal Traditions

Indigenous Peoples – May 2021

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Episode 20: Cultural Diversity: Remodeling Canadian Legal Traditions
Broadcast Date: May 13, 2021

Summary

One of the strengths of Canadian legal traditions is their ability to adapt to changing circumstances. In societies that embrace all of their cultures, can Canadian legal traditions adapt indigenous conception of duty, loyalty, and good faith? Are expanded laws one solution to meet the need for inclusion in a diverse society? In this podcast, we will hear from the Honourable P. Colleen Suche, a judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba, who is also Vice-President of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, and Professor Jeffery Hewitt, who is now teaching at the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.

Note: This podcast is an excerpt from CIAJ’s 2017 annual conference, which focused on Cultural and Religious Diversity in the Administration of Justice. The next annual conference, on Indigenous Peoples and the Law, will take place in Vancouver from November 17 to 19, 2021.

Guests

Documentation

Biographies

The Honourable Justice P. Colleen Suche has been a member of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba since 2002. She has been involved in a number of access to justice initiatives, as a member of the National Action Committee on Access to Civil and Family Justice, Chairperson of the Access to Justice Committee of the Superior Courts Judges Association; and while on a study leave in 2010-11 helped establish The Legal Help Centre, a free community legal clinic in Winnipeg. Prior to joining the court, she served as an adjudicator under the Human Rights Code of Manitoba, labour arbitrator, and chairperson of the Mental Health Review Board of Manitoba. She also serves as CIAJ’s First Vice-President.

Jeffery G. Hewitt is an Assistant Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. His research interests include Indigenous legal orders and governance, constitutional law, human rights, legal education, business law, as well as art + law and visual legal studies. Jeffery is mixed-descent Cree, was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1998 and works with Rama First Nation as well as various Indigenous Elders, leaders and organizers in the promotion of Indigenous legal orders. Currently, Jeffery is on the Executive of Legal Leaders for Diversity, and serves as a director of both the Indigenous Bar Association Foundation as well as the National Theatre School of Canada.

In All Fairness is a Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice podcast channel welcoming representatives from the legal community and exploring how we can all contribute to improving the administration of justice in Canada. Legal professionals will benefit from informed discussions on key issues, essential knowledge and insights to strengthen their practice.

Visit the upcoming programs section of our website or the online library, or contact us if you want to learn more on administrative law and expand your skills. Numerous programs are available, including a National Roundtable on Administrative law.

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