Lawyers in waiting

Applicants clamoring at the doors of ApAkitsiraq Law School

Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 06/01) - Applicants from across Nunavut are clamouring to get into Canada's first Inuit-only law school.

"It's a very good sign," Andrejs Berzins, Northern director of Akitsiraq Law School, said after 100 applications poured in.

Facts: Nunavut's population: about. 28,000 Number of private practice lawyers in Nunavut: four, all in Iqaluit. Legal aid lawyers: Iqaluit (one), Cambridge Bay (one), Pond Inlet (one). Number of Inuit lawyers called to the bar and practising in Nunavut: none. Type of law Akitsiraq Law School graduates will practice: public service, government, private practice Source: Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik Legal Services

There are just 15 places in the school that opens this fall. Internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Lucie Idlout is among those hoping to receive an acceptance letter.

"I understand my application is one of many," said the former Pond Inlet resident.

Idlout is prepared to put her music career on hold, and said she doesn't assume her application "is in the top 15. But I've given it my best shot."

Berzins is hopeful that the flood of applicants will draw more sponsors to the innovative financing plan and open five more places in the four-year program.

It will cost an estimated $200,000 to graduate a lawyer. Instead of repaying loans, the lawyers will work for the sponsors who pick up the tab for their schooling.

Confirmed sponsors include the federal and Nunavut governments, and the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation. Additional sponsorships may come from Inuit organizations.

"The more students we have, the easier it will be," Berzins said. "We're very optimistic."

Graduates of the one-time program at Nunavut Arctic College earn a Bachelor of Law from the University of Victoria. Classes start in September.

Berzins said most applications came from Nunavut's communities and Iqaluit. Only "a few" came from Inuit living in southern regions.

A panel of University of Victoria's Faculty of Law and Inuit community representatives will select the successful applicants. Acceptance letters will be sent out next month.

Nunavut resident Lalena Flaherty, finishing up a two-year management studies program at Arctic College this month, sees it as "a great opportunity for someone like me who has an interest in higher education and the justice system.

"History and past experience shows how different southerners and northerners are," said Flaherty, a mother of three.

"Only now are we becoming aware of the justice system while others become aware of our teaching and healing methods."

Eligibility:

• Inuit living anywhere in Canada.
• Acceptance is based on employment, involvement in community and public government, and academic marks.
• A university degree is not required.
• Applicants submitted reference letters, transcripts, a personal statement and written exam.
• A law school admission test (LSAT) was not required.
• A criminal record will not automatically disqualify an applicant but may hurt sponsorship chances if the Law Society of Nunavut denies their application to practice law.
• There are no correspondence courses. Students must live in Iqaluit.
• Why now? To address the pressing need for Inuit lawyers in all levels of government, industry and private practice.
• Graduates will have the same credentials to practice law as students graduating from southern law schools.

For more information: www.law.uvic.ca