Indigenous Human Rights

Nov 29 2024 9 ep. 33 mins 14

Indigenous Human Rights Podcast artwork

The Indigenous Human Rights podcast is produced by Pro Bono Students Canada's Indigenous Human Rights Program. We're a group of law students shining a light on the experiences of Indigenous people at human rights tribunals across Canada. Listen and learn what it's really like to fight for your rights in the colonial legal system. Our podcast is sponsored by Thomson Reuters, PBSC's National Research Partner.

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Cindy Blackstock: Fighting for Equality in Family and Child Services

Nov 29 2024 30 mins

An episode from the back catalogue! We talk with Dr. Cindy Blackstock, a member of the Gitxsan First Nation, the Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, and a professor at McGill University’s School of Social Work. She will spotlight the CHRT decision First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v. Attorney General of Canada (for

Sheryl Lightfoot: UNDRIP and Human Rights Tribunals

Nov 21 2024 32 mins

An episode from the back catalogue! We talk to Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot, a citizen of the Lake Superior Band of Ojibwe (enrolled at the Keweenaw Bay Community), a professor at the University of British Columbia, and one of the world’s leading experts in global Indigenous politics, serving as the North American member on the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous

Mr. C: Limitation periods at human rights tribunals

Mar 21 2023 35 mins

In our third episode of Season 2, we talk to lawyer Alanna Tom about her experience representing Mr. C, an Indigenous man, at the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. Mr. C filed his human rights complaint late but Ms. Tom was able to convince the tribunal to accept it. We talk to Ms. Tom about how she convinced the tribunal to accept the late filled complaint, limitations perio

Farewell Fallon and Flint: Reflecting on what we've learned and imagining a better future

Apr 25 2022 24 mins

In this episode, hosts Fallon and Flint announce that they are graduating from law school and moving on from the podcast. Fallon and Flint reflect on what they have learned from our guests over the past two years, and they share how they hope the human rights legal system will change in the future. Thank you Fallon and Flint! Through a pandemic and the demands of law school, you he

Expert Witness: An inside look at the human rights tribunal system

Mar 04 2022 38 mins

Welcome to Season 2! We talk to Dr. Bruce Miller, a sociocultural anthropologist who has testified as an expert witness in some of the most important Indigenous human rights cases in Canada. Dr. Miller tells us what an expert witness is, what he learned while testifying in Gladys Radek and Deborah Campbell's human rights cases, and he shares some seriously scathing critiques of the

Garry McKay: Racially profiled and arrested for having a nice bike

Nov 30 2021 32 mins

To round out our first year as podcasters, we talk to Cree and Métis lawyers Mandy Wesley and Amanda Driscoll about their experiences representing Garry McKay, an Oji-Cree man who was arrested by a Toronto Police officer who said he thought that Mr. McKay had a stolen bicycle. Mr. McKay knew he had been racially profiled, so he filed a complaint with the help of his legal team at

Gladys Radek: She was followed by a mall security guard. Then she proved systemic discrimination

Oct 13 2021 28 mins

In our third episode, we speak with Gladys Radek, a long-time advocate for Indigenous women and girls. In 2001, Gladys was grabbing a coffee at a mall when a security guard demanded to know where she was going. Gladys filed a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal and the Tribunal agreed that Gladys' treatment was part of a larger pattern of systemic discrimination at the mall

Crystal Smith: A mother's fight to protect the right to smudge

Mar 30 2021 35 mins

In our second episode, we talk to Crystal Smith, a member of the Tsimshian and Haisla Nations and a mother, artist, activist, and teacher. She tells us about the time her landlord tried to evict her for smudging in her apartment with her children, and the long road she travelled to fight for her family's cultural rights. Crystal won her case at the BC Human Rights Tribunal in 2020,

Deborah Campbell: Acts of resistance in the colonial human rights system

Dec 01 2020 44 mins

In our first-ever episode, we talk to Cree and Métis-Cree lawyers Amber Prince and Myrna McCallum about their experiences representing Deborah Campbell, an Indigenous mother who took the Vancouver Police to the BC Human Rights Tribunal. In 2019, she won her case, and we've all got a lot to learn from it.Discussed: acts of resistance, trauma-informed practice, cultural humility, In