Lakehead University Bora Laskin Faculty of Law celebrates recent Indigenous graduates

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — Curve Lake First Nation’s Raina McCue stressed the importance of the Lakehead University Bora Laskin Faculty of Law’s mandatory courses on Indigenous legal issues after graduating on May 15 in Thunder Bay. The Bora Laskin Faculty of Law has a mandatory semester course, Indigenous Law, in the first year and a mandatory full-year course, Aboriginal Law, in the second year.

“It’s an honour to graduate from here and it was such a special privilege to go to this school because of the Indigenous aspect — that’s why I came here,” McCue says. “So many of my classmates learned so much that they didn’t come in with previous experience of, so it was a nice way to raise awareness. It’s nice to have a new generation of people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who are able to make that change and help us.”

McCue also appreciated the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law’s Integrated Practice Curriculum model of legal education, which fuses the theory of law with the practice of law so students not only learn law, but they also learn the necessary practice skills to use that law effectively.

“I was able to get my specialization in Aboriginal and Indigenous law because there were so many course offerings about Indigenous and Aboriginal law,” McCue says.

McCue credits an interest in making change for pursuing her studies in law.

“I’ve always been a social justice advocate and I was always interested on making change from within and I knew I could do that by going to law school,” McCue says.

McCue says she had a great experience with the other students and professors at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law.

“It was great, we’re so close knit and we’re just such a tight community, all the professors, everyone,” McCue says. “It was just a really welcoming environment. I’m very thankful I had this opportunity.”

Mishkeegamang’s Ashley Bach says it felt amazing to be graduating from the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law.

“I didn’t really feel like I was graduating for a minute and then yesterday we had the Blanket Ceremony for the grads and it kind of hit me then and then today when we were walking across the stage, that’s when I was, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m done,’” Bach says. “I have the barrister and solicitor exams coming up, so the goals are to pass those — those are the two main goals in front of me right now. We have about six to eight weeks for studying, so it’s crunch time.”

Webequie’s Neebin Scanlon-Wabasse says it was exciting to be graduating from the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law.

“Any law student will tell you it’s hard work and determination and lots of perseverance, some late night tears, but it’s all worth it in the end watching everybody walk the stage today,” Scanlon-Wabasse says.

Scanlon-Wabasse says he chose to study law because he saw the need in his community.

“We have a lack of professionals, including lawyers and doctors and accountants and the like, so I saw an opportunity and I wanted to take advantage of it for my community,” Scanlon-Wabasse says.

Fort William Elder Marlene Pierre says she was proud of the three First Nation graduates from the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law.

“We’re very proud of that because we need more Anishinaabe lawyers,” Pierre says. “There’s upcoming [Indigenous law students] in the first and second year, and hopefully that will keep on increasing as time goes on because our people have to make our young people more legally aware of all the policies that are out there that affect their everyday life.”