University law program planned
Nunavut Arctic College partners with University of Saskatchewan
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Monday, August 29, 2016
IQALUIT
Beginning in the fall of 2017, Nunavut will once again be offering a law program thanks to a new partnership between Nunavut Arctic College and the University of Saskatchewan.
Twenty-five spots in the four-year program will be available for potential home-grown lawyers.
"The Government of Nunavut has made education a priority in our current mandate. The delivery of a law degree program through the University of Saskatchewan will give Nunavummiut the best opportunity to learn about and engage actively in the legal profession," stated Education Minister Paul Quassa, the minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College, in a news release Aug. 22.
Two universities submitted proposals in response to a request for proposals made by the Government of Nunavut earlier this year.
The University of Saskatchewan and the University of Victoria were the two contenders, said Richard Paton, acting dean for Nunavut Arctic College.
Previously, the college had teamed up with the Akitsiraq Law School Society and the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria.
That program accepted one intake of students in 2001, with 11 graduates completing the program in 2005.
In 2010, the society hoped to partner with the University of Ottawa to offer a program to a second group of potential lawyers. But the GN denied a request by the program for $3.57 million, 70 per cent of its core funding over a six-year period.
Keith Peterson, who was justice minister at the time and still currently, stated in a letter to the society the government did "not have the resources to make the commitment you require."
He went on to say that due to "serious fiscal challenges," the government has chosen to concentrate on improving the education system in kindergarten up to Grade 12.
Paton explained why the University of Saskatchewan was chosen.
"The University of Saskatchewan has the oldest law school in western Canada. They have a very good program for indigenous peoples recognizing the importance of legally trained indigenous peoples," he said.
"They have an eight-week pre-law program - which is comparable to Nunavut Arctic College's foundation program - allowing students to succeed in the main courses, and they have a history of indigenous legal traditions."
The cost of the program for the GN will be $3,442,513 during a multi-year contract, said Paton.
"Ensuring Inuit students have the opportunity to study law in Nunavut is a natural extension of our commitment to indigenous initiatives and to Canada's Truth and Reconciliation calls to action. We are delighted that the University of Saskatchewan's College of Law has been selected to partner with Nunavut Arctic College to provide this important program," stated University of Saskatchewan president and vice-chancellor Peter Stoicheff.
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Anne Crawford, an Iqaluit lawyer who at the time of the first program was Northern director for Akitsiraq and remains a society member, says the model for this new program differs from the original, with only two partners instead of three.
Akitsiraq played an import role in a three-way partnership, which included the society, the University of Victoria and the college.
"The structure (now) doesn't have the community participation in the same way," she said.
"The society was the instigator for the program and brought together lawyers and judges and others who basically participated in selection and managed things like the student return service, the individual funding, emergency funds - student support functions that were needed. They also provided the day-to-day supervision for the program managers."
The society has continued to exist, offering a number of two-week programs. Currently there are six to eight Nunavut students taking law programs in the south.
"The really important thing is there will be a program," said Crawford.
Regardless of what the new program will look like, Crawford says she's happy there will be new Inuit and Northern lawyers.
"I know when you get a classroom full of enthusiastic students with a law professor looking at these issues, no matter what the structure is, that is going to deliver us really valuable learning," she said, adding the society maintains a Facebook page and would be pleased to help provide information about the program to those who are interested.
