These Indigenous lawyers are vying to change the face of B.C.'s legal profession

Kelly Russ still recalls meeting Judge Alfred Scow, B.C.'s first Indigenous judge, in Prince Rupert when he was attendingelementary school with Scow's children.

Scow, who died in 2013,was the first Indigenous person to graduate from law school in B.C. and the first Indigenous lawyer to be called to the B.C. bar.

Meeting the man in person gave Russ who was born in Haida Gwaii a sense of what was possible.

Russ would go on to spend 13 years in foster carebefore getting a law degree and starting his own family law firm in West Vancouver.

Russ, 58, is now one of four Indigenous candidates co-ordinating to viefor spots among thebenchers who oversee the law profession in B.C. a numberthe Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) says is remarkable in and of itself.

Elected benchersact collectively as directors of the LSBCand regulators of the profession, as well as individually as adjudicators, to "promote and protect" public interest, the society notes.

According to LSBCfigures, about 2.73 per cent of the organization's nearly 14,000 members 359 lawyersidentified as Indigenous in 2020. Yet, only twoIndigenous benchershave been elected in the past 137 years, theAboriginal Lawyers Forum of the Canadian Bar Association's B.C. branch says.

Russ and fellow lawyers Katrina Harry, Brian Dybwad and Lindsay LeBlanchave beencampaigning in a joint effort forone of 19 spots andhighlighting the need for greater Indigenous representation.

Two other independent candidates, Kyla Lee and George Rivard, also identify as Mtis. The Aboriginal Lawyers Forum has asked members to support all Indigenous candidates.

In their own way, Russ says, they're hoping to provide the same kind of inspiration Scow did for him decades ago.

"I think, as Indigenous people, we're finally getting ourfeet on the ground within the legal profession, trying to find our way within the profession, especially within the regulatory body that is the Law Society of British Columbia," Russ said.

"Yes, we're perhaps a little late coming to the game. But we're coming, and we'd like to participate."

A historic election

Campaigns to lead B.C.'s legal profession rarely make headlines, but both the law society and the Aboriginal Lawyers Forum have pointed to the historic nature of the current contest.

Voting in this current election began Nov. 1 and ends on Nov. 15.A total of 34 candidates are running for the 19 available spots.

In addition to thebenchers elected by lawyers around the province, the government also appoints up to six members to represent the public interest. LSBC communications director Jason Kuzminski says some level of Indigenous representation hasthus been ensured by the public appointments since the 1990s.

Still, "the number of Indigenous candidates putting their names forward to run to become a member of the governing board of benchers is encouraging," Kuzminskiwrote in an email.

"It is consistent with the efforts the Law Society has been making to be more inclusive of Indigenous peoples."

First Indigenous female bencher elected in 2018

In 2018, Karen Snowshoe was the first Indigenous woman elected as a bencher.

According to LSBCdocuments, itwas Snowshoe's powerfuldissent in a disciplinary hearing last spring that "raised seriousquestions about the ability of the Law Society's regulatory process to engage, address and accommodate marginalized complainants and witnesses, particularly Indigenous persons."

She wrote a scathing criticism ofa penaltyfor alawyer who hired a paroled murderer to help him with files of residential school survivors who later claimed the freed killer tried to extort their settlement money.

Snowshoe was overruled by the other two members of the three-person panel; she called the one-month suspension and $4,000 fine they agreed on"grossly inadequate"and predictedthe decision "would most likely call into question the public's confidence."

In response to her recommendations, the society struck a task force to review its regulatory processes.

In an interview withCBC, Snowshoe, who stressed that she was speaking for herself, not the law society, saidthe decision was "huge."

"I think it was shocking to the average lawyer who saw this case. It was shocking to the average member of the public who thought: 'How could this happen? How could the law society allow this to happen?'" Snowshoe said.

"Ultimately, if we don't have public confidence in our ability to self-regulate and we can't protect the most vulnerable and marginalized members of our public, then really our ability to self-regulate will be called into question."

Snowshoe said that beyond a "significant" time commitment, being the only Indigenous elected bencher was emotionally draining and that she encountered overt racism and micro-aggressions from some colleagues.

"I can deal with all of that, but it takes a little bit of toll in terms of those cuts along the way, not feeling welcomed by certain people who quite frankly are happy with the power structure as it is," she said.

'We're not asking for the guilt vote'

In 2015, the LSBC'sbenchers agreed to address issues identified bythe Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report.

They recently piloted a course focusing on "the history of Aboriginal-Crown relations, the history and legacy of residential schools and how legislation regarding Indigenous peoples created the issues that reconciliation seeks to address."

Snowshoe said she's supportive of the four candidates looking to carryon her work, because she feels it's crucial that the public see Indigenous representation as part of the reconciliation process.

LeBlanc, who is Mtis,serves as the chair of the Law Foundation of B.C.

The Victoria lawyer says the fact only two Indigenous lawyers have been elected as benchers in more than a century is striking in a province where Indigenous people are over-represented in the criminal and child welfare legal systems, and where the rights of Indigenous people are at the heart of many pressinglegal battles.

WATCH | What reconciliation means to this B.C. First Nation:

What the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation means to this B.C. First Nation

3 years ago

Duration 4:13

For members of the Tkemlps te Secwpemc, Sept. 30 is about honouring the children and survivors of residential schools, and creating a path forward for reconciliation. The First Nation sparked a national conversation after it helped uncover what appear to be the remains of 200 children buried at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

"I think it's shocking," LeBlanc said. "It is not representative of the number of Indigenouslawyers that are within the profession and it is a continuation of the under-representation."

Like the other three candidates, LeBlanc stresses that she is running as a competent lawyer with something to offer the profession as a bencherwho happens to be Indigenous.

Russ agrees.

"We're not asking for the guilt vote. We're asking for the competency vote," he said.

"It's an opportunity for the lawyers of B.C. to say, 'You know what? Yeah they're competent, and we're prepared to step forward in this era of reconciliation andelect these individuals as benchers because we believe its an important social good to have four Indigenous lawyers who are competent at the benchers' table.'"