Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission to start work with 2 commissioners appointed
INAC press release
Truth and Reconciliation Commission to begin work on June 1: Canada announces final appointments
OTTAWA, May 13 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians today announced the final two appointments for the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission (IRSTRC).
Jane Brewin Morley and Claudette Dumont-Smith are being appointed as Commissioners, and together with the Chair of the Commission, Justice Harry LaForme, they will begin their work on June 1, 2008. Justice Harry LaForme was appointed as Chair of the Commission in April 2008.
"I am honoured to appoint these two highly respected women who have both served in many esteemed professional and public positions. Their extensive experience and considerable knowledge will be invaluable," said Minister Strahl. "Soon these highly respected Commissioners will begin their work, and former students who had been victimized by Residential Schools will have the opportunity to come forward and ensure their stories are heard and recorded in history."
The Commission will research and examine the conditions that gave rise to the Indian Residential Schools legacy. It will be an opportunity for people to share their experiences about a sad part of Canadian history that is still unknown to most Canadians.
The Chair and the Commissioners were chosen from more than 300 submissions received in response to a public call for nominations. A Selection Panel, which included representatives from national Aboriginal Organizations, Church entities and Government, reviewed the submissions. "I would also like to extend my gratitude to the highly esteemed members of the Selection Panel for their dedication and hard work", added Minister Strahl.
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Biographies
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Jane Brewin Morley
Jane Brewin Morley is a lawyer, a facilitator, a mediator, an arbitrator, and a public policy advisor. Ms. Morley began her career in law with Pearlman & Lindholm of Victoria and continued with them as an associate until 1976, when she formed the law firm of Brewin, McCallum, Milne and Morley.
Ms. Brewin Morley has served in many professional and public positions: Governor of the Law Foundation of B.C. (1991 - 1999, Chair 1998 - 1999); public representative on the Counsel of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia (1994 - 2001) and Chair of the Jericho Individual Compensation Panel, a redress program for victims of institutional sexual abuse at the Jericho School for the Deaf and Blind (1996 - 2001). In 1993, she was honoured with an appointment as Queen's Council (Q.C.).
Ms. Brewin Morley was also the Official Trustee of the Legal Services Society (2002 - 2003) and President of the BC Mediator Roster Society (2002 -
2006) and is currently a board member of the BC Dispute Resolution Practicum Society. From 2003 to 2006, she was the Child and Youth Officer for British Columbia. In 2007, Ms. Brewin Morley was appointed as an adjudicator for the Independent Assessment Program under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
Ms. Brewin Morley holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Law from Queen's University at Kingston.
Claudette Dumont-Smith
Claudette Dumont-Smith has been actively involved in the field of Aboriginal health since 1974. She is a registered nurse and has acted in various executive capacities with the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada and the National Aboriginal Child Care Commission. Ms. Dumont-Smith has moderated health conferences across Canada and has collaborated on a number of papers and manuals about various aspects of Aboriginal health care programs.
Ms. Dumont-Smith has served as a member of the Aboriginal circle of the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women by the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada and as Associate Commissioner for the National Aboriginal Child Care Commission of the Native Council of Canada.
Ms. Dumont-Smith is also an accomplished writer / researcher whose articles on a wide range of topics have been published by the Health Council of Canada, and the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, among others.
Ms. Dumont-Smith holds her Master's degree in Public Administration from Queen's University, Kingston and also holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Québec, Gatineau.
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For further information: Josée Bellemare, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Chuck Strahl, (819) 997-0002; Kimberly Phillips, Office of the Interim Executive Director, Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, (613) 219-5872