BC university bestows honorary doctorates on leaders in truth and reconciliation in Canada
VANCOUVER, BC, July 12, 2022 /CNW/ - University Canada West (UCW) is delighted to announce that it will present Honorary Doctorates to Phil Fontaine and Kathleen Mahoney at its Summer 2022 Convocation ceremony in July.
Chief Fontaine, former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, and Professor Mahoney, Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Calgary, are widely regarded as champions in Canada's movement to truth and reconciliation, justice and human rights.
Chief Fontaine has dedicated his life to furthering the rights and interests of his people and achieving truth and reconciliation for the massive human rights violations suffered for over 150 years by generations of First Nations peoples in Indian Residential Schools.
In 1991, he was the first leader to disclose the widespread abuse of students in Residential Schools on the national stage and demanded a national inquiry. His courage and leadership in making the disclosures prompted thousands of survivors to come forward with lawsuits that led to the negotiations and ultimate adoption of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement in 2007.
Most recently, his long career of seeking justice for residential school survivors came full circle when he led a delegation of survivors to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis to discuss reconciliation with the Catholic church. The delegation shared their stories of survival and received a historic apology from Pope Francis for abuses in Canada's church-run residential schools. The Pope expressed "sorrow and shame" for the lack of respect for Indigenous identities, culture and spiritual values, and plans were laid for Pope Francis to visit Canada this summer to personally deliver the apology to residential school survivors and Indigenous communities. Without the leadership, courage and persistence of Chief Phil Fontaine, these historic events which have changed the history of Canada forever, would never have occurred.
Professor Mahoney is an internationally recognized human rights expert, judicial educator and litigator who has spent her career seeking justice and equality for women and disadvantaged minorities through law. She was born and raised in Trail, BC and obtained law degrees from UBC, the University of Cambridge and the Institute of International Human Rights Law in Strasbourg, France.
Her achievements include many firsts. She was a founder of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, litigating equality rights for women and minorities in the Supreme Court of Canada. She was senior counsel on the groundbreaking cases in Canada protecting racial minorities, LBGTQ and women and children from hate speech.
She represented the National Indian and Inuit Community Health Representatives in the first case involving indigenous plaintiffs under the Canadian Human Rights Act, securing a multi-million-dollar settlement for discriminatory rates of pay compared to non-indigenous health workers.
While a member of the legal team that represented Bosnia Herzegovina in their genocide action against Serbia in the International Court of Justice, her innovative work with Bosnian Muslim survivors of mass rapes resulted in the fundamental alteration of the definition of genocide in the Genocide Convention to include mass rapes and forced pregnancy.
For several years, she worked side by side with Chief Fontaine on the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement acting as the Chief Negotiator for the Assembly of First Nations. The Settlement Agreement, the largest of its kind in Canadian history, provided billions of dollars in compensation for individual survivors, long term support for intergenerational survivors, healing and commemoration, the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, and prompted the historic apologies by the Government of Canada and the Vatican. Professor Mahoney was the principal architect of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and served on the National Administration Committee, which oversaw the implementation of the Settlement Agreement, from 2012 to 2022.
For more information about Chief Fontaine and Professor Mahoney's backgrounds and accomplishments, please see the full press release on UCW's website.
"We are delighted to bestow honorary doctorates on Phil Fontaine and Kathleen Mahoney," said UCW President and Vice-Chancellor Sheldon Levy. "They have long served as leaders on the path to truth and reconciliation in Canada. While great strides have been made, their work is ongoing. Their tireless efforts to educate the public about the role of Indigenous people in the founding of Canada and advance truth and reconciliation in this country are truly an inspiration to all of us at UCW."
Chief Fontaine and Professor Mahoney will receive the Doctor of Laws degrees during UCW's Summer 2022 Convocation ceremony at BC Place on Thursday, July 14.
About University Canada West (UCW)
University Canada West (UCW) is an innovative business and technology-oriented institution in Vancouver, Canada, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees for domestic and international students.
UCW offers a range of career-focused programs including, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Arts in Business Communication, Associate of Arts and Master of Business Administration. Courses are offered at our two downtown Vancouver campuses – our West Pender Campus in the heart of Vancouver's financial district and our new Vancouver House Campus.
SOURCE University Canada West
For media inquiries or to arrange an interview contact Jessica Kerr, UCW Public Relations Manager, at [email protected].
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