Truth and Reconciliation and A Glimpse into the Future
Monday, September 30th is Truth and Reconciliation Day. Some law firms and legal departments will be open while others are closed—we are still adjusting to a special statutory holiday at this time of year. We hope that everyone who has a non-office day will spend some time thinking about reconciliation and how they can extend a bridge to our Indigenous peers, clients and community members, and that those who are at work will be able to include truth and reconciliation contemplation into their day.
Contemplating truth and reconciliation is dark. Twenty-first century Canadians like to conceive of our country as Canada-the-Good, but history shows otherwise. While we would like to forget about the parts that don’t align with our vision of our country and ourselves as enlightened and fair, we have to confront Canada’s treatment of Indigenous Canadians and its lingering impacts on people in our society. We can’t rebuild new relationships with Indigenous Canadians without coming to terms with this sad history.
This year, however, I am heading into Truth and Reconciliation Day with a sense of optimism. I am a fairly positive person generally and like to try to find a silver lining in difficult situations where I can—but it isn’t up to me to tell Indigenous Canadians how they should feel. But for non-Indigenous Canadians, I want to share the message that accepting the horrifying legacy of residential schools and other harmful Canadian policies does not mean that we cannot visualize a better society which values Indigenous peoples and culture. In fact, the opposite is true. It behooves all of us to seek ways to include Indigenous colleagues and friends in our profession and to ensure that they have opportunities to shine, just like everyone else.
I am feeling this sense of optimism despite the dark history because Assist was invited to participate in the first ever Calgary Indigenous Legal Career Day this week. Edmonton has had its Indigenous Legal Career Day running for several years, and thanks to the efforts of Chief Justice Khullar, Calgary’s event is now up and running. Indigenous Legal Career Day exists to encourage Indigenous high school and post-secondary students to consider careers in the legal sector.
Assist had a booth at the career fair, not because we have jobs to offer but to ensure that law students and potential law students know that there are supports available to them when they encounter bumps along the road of life. I had great conversations with elders who accompanied the young people about the Indigenous concept of holistic health, where the physical, mental and spiritual are combined. I learned that colonialism caused the splitting off from whole health into disconnected systems, and Assist wants to work with Indigenous lawyers and students, and non-Indigenous lawyers and students, to help restore us all to health.
This conversation reminded me of the dimensions of well-being concept developed by the American Bar Association as part of its path towards well-being. In this model, there are six, instead of three, dimensions:
- Occupational
- Intellectual
- Social
- Physical
- Emotional
- Spiritual
Lawyers focus primarily on their occupational dimension which relies heavily on their intellectual dimension. We tend to let the other four go. If you are questioning this, think about the last time you explored your spiritual dimension with your colleagues or talked about your quest for emotional well-being. The longer that I practice law, the more aware I am of the need for the type of holistic well-being that Indigenous Elders teach (and I mean holistic in its organic sense and not as used in the “wellness industry.)
Indigenous Legal Careers Day recognized the different components of well-being—the event opened with a smudging ceremony. Everyone was welcomed followed by Chief Justice Hunter from the Court of Justice who then had the honour of introducing speakers, including Justice Karen Crowshoe, Justice Michelle O’Bonsowin from the Supreme Court of Canada, and Counsellor Samuel Crowfoot from the Siksika Nation.
About 75 students, largely from high schools in southern Alberta, listened to addresses from these esteemed members of the justice and legal communities. Both Justice Crowshoe and Justice O’Bonsowin were the first members of their families to go to law school and become lawyers, and hearing their stories will help Indigenous youth see that they too can achieve career success in a new field.
I related to the two Justices’ stories about being trailblazers in law. I wasn’t quite the first one in my family to go to law school. My cousin was, and he was all of two years ahead of me in law school. But having a cousin two years ahead is different from being part of inter-generational legal families.
But those of us who were new to the legal community often struggled to feel like we belonged. We tended to watch “insiders” to see how they acted and handled situations for clues to belonging or pretending that we did (on the fake it until you make it model). When I was in law school, about thirty percent of my class were women, but we were a much smaller portion of the legal community, and the way that most of us dealt with our feelings of being “other” was to try to fit in. Women learned to adopt more masculine interests and styles of speech. Most clients were male, and you had to be able to relate to them with as much apparent ease as male colleagues did (hence a lot of faked interest in professional sports, for example.)
I learned during one of my first articling interviews that female lawyers should have hobbies and outside interests that were similar to male interests. I remember one of the only female lawyers on articling interview panels cringing—and literally giving me the evil eye—in a job interview when I honestly answered the question about what I did with my down time which included sewing and knitting. I developed a new script that gave more prominence to activities like running and cycling, which I did somewhat half-heartedly. I wasn’t quite denying who I was entirely, but I was definitely on that path.
So, I relate to how Indigenous law students and lawyers would answer similar questions when their interests and hobbies relate to Indigenous culture and sports. I imagine that interviewers are doing the equation about whether they would “fit” both with colleagues and clients. But I am gratified that many firms seem to be open to hearing more about Indigenous culture, thanks in part to initiatives like Truth and Reconciliation Day.
I found Justice O’Bonsowin truly inspirational. Even though she was speaking via a video link, she emanated warmth to her audience. She shared setbacks in her career—like being let go from a job on her first day as her firm discovered that her husband worked at a firm on the other side of major litigation and saw this as a conflict of interest—and about the constant struggle to balance work with family, telling us that while one parent tried to be home to have dinner with the children each day during the week, weekend dinners as a family were de rigeur.
I came away from this session wishing I could have coffee with her and learn more about her and her work. She specialized at first in forensic criminal issues, working in-house at a psychiatric hospital, then moving into labour relations and employment law, litigating within an in-house structure—very cool—and then completing her Masters degree and PhD while having a demanding career and raising two children. I wondered if she might be a potential speaker for a future Hand to Hand event.
I have heard Justice Crowshoe speak before—I don’t want to ignore the impact that her story had on first generation Indigenous lawyers-to-be. And Councillor Crowfoot returned to Canada after practicing law and becoming a judge in the US, to serve on his band council. Simply great people all around.
But my favourite part was when the floor was opened up for the young people for Q and A with Justice O’Bonsowin. You know how Q and A sessions go—sometimes it takes a little while to get going and we wondered for a minute or two if there would be any questions at all. But once the first brave student came up to the microphone to ask a question, the floodgates opened, and insightful questions and comments flowed.
My favourite moment was towards the end of the Q and A session when a confident young man approached the mic. His question was simple and direct. He asked Justice O’Bonsowin the question that no doubt many students were wondering: how much money did she make! Justice O’Bonsowin laughed warmly and said that her salary was on the public record (i.e., he could go and look it up.) She said that she was fairly compensated, but urged the young people to consider public service even though lawyers in private practice earn more money so that they can be part of making our world a better place for all, a pitch perfect response all around.
What I saw from the attendees at Indigenous Legal Careers Day gave me a foretaste of the future, and it felt good—we have wonderful young people wanting to enter law and law-adjacent fields.
Indigenous Legal Careers Day will be held in Edmonton on October 3rd. I understand that the two events do not necessarily have the same format. I was tempted to ask if Assist could have a booth at the Edmonton event since I will be in Edmonton for our Hand to Hand event that evening, but the reality is that the day of a major event is usually chaotic with last minute changes and little glitches with everything from decorations to tech. I realized that if I can’t give my best to Edmonton Legal Careers Day because my phone will be abuzz all day, it is better for me to wait for next year.
But—lawyers in Edmonton and Calgary who find themselves at or the Courthouse on Indigenous Legal Careers Day, nod in the direction of the fine young people you will see touring the courthouse and visiting booths. And you will feel excited about our future!
This Truth and Reconciliation Day, please join me in wearing an orange shirt to show solidarity with our Indigenous communities and individuals who suffered due to Canadian policies and practices. But look for the opportunities to see a brighter future, and commit to supporting whatever it will take to get there. Each of us can only do so much alone, but when we work together, we can change the world.
If you are looking for ways to observe Truth and Reconciliation Day on Monday, check out these links to activities across Alberta.
Edmonton
https://exploreedmonton.com/event-calendar/national-truth-and-reconciliation-day-2024
Calgary
https://www.calgary.ca/events/orange-shirt-day.html
Red Deer
https://www.reddeer.ca/media/reddeerca/about-red-deer/welcoming-and-inclusive-communities/Truth-and-Reconciliation-Day.pdf
Lethbridge
https://www.lethbridge.ca/news/posts/reconciliation-week-events-information/
Medicine Hat
https://www.medicinehat.ca/en/news/city-to-observe-national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation.aspx
Grande Prairie
https://everythinggp.com/2024/09/27/national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation-ceremony-and-walk-run-on-monday/
Loraine