Sept 22, 2000
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THE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA Sept 22, 2000 |
| An unusual educational partnership will take the university’s legal expertise to Canada’s north by Patty Pitts The vast new territory of Nunavut sprawls over three time zones, occupies one-fifth of Canada’s landmass and has only one Inuit lawyer — Nunavut’s Premier Paul Okalik. The Inuit, representing 85 per cent of the territory’s population, want to increase their presence within Nunavut’s emerging government structure and since few are in a position to head south to law school, a new partnership with UVic will bring legal education up north. “There is nothing like this in Canada, maybe even the world,” says UVic law dean Jamie Cassels of the plan to send UVic law professors to Nunavut’s capital of Iqauluit to instruct a cohort of 10 to 15 Inuit students over a four-year program. The idea for the partnership grew from grassroots initiatives in the new territory to develop a law school and UVic’s reputation as having an innovative law school with a commitment to aboriginal legal education. The idea took further root because of the friendship between Cassels and UVic law grad Kelly Gallagher-Mackay, who first went to Nunavut on a co-op work term and now works with its Department of Justice. “We’ve been talking about it for years. When Nunavut gained its self-governing capacity, the need to bring some sort of legal training to the north became imperative,” says Cassels. “The Inuit need professional capacity to succeed, but the cultural, physical, and social conditions don’t exist for a critical mass of them to move south for three or four years for legal study. They’ve got family responsibilities, jobs and even diets that they can’t satisfy in the south.” The solution? Take the legal expertise to the Arctic. Financial support from the federal Department of Justice and the Nunavut government has covered the $150,000 expense of developing the program and Cassels is hoping potential employers will provide additional funding to cover program delivery. “I estimate it will cost about $30,000 per year for each student,” says Cassels, “but we want to offer students the opportunity to receive a salary throughout the year whether they are studying or working.” About a half of the student costs will be covered by northern federal and Nunavut organizations with the remainder being sought from foundations and the private sector. The target start date for the program is September, 2001. The cost of travel to the remote region is a significant factor in planning a budget for the program’s delivery. But despite the fact that UVic “is as far away as you can get” from Nunavut, the territory targeted the university to be its partner. “They know we’re small and very student-centred. They want the credibility and the legitimacy of a law degree from a southern institution and they really wanted UVic to do this,” says Cassels of the rationale behind the geographically challenged alliance. The program’s first year will likely be a “transitional jump start” for the students to improve their odds of success by preparing them in advance for the rigours of law study. Distance education through e-mail and the Internet will be introduced as the program progresses. Cassels feels that using a cohort model (where a group starts and finishes a program together without the introduction of new students each year) will give the students additional support. A similar model was used very successfully by UVic’s school of child and youth care and the Awasis Agency of northern Manitoba to deliver post-graduate training to the agency’s managers. “We want to recruit 15 talented students who will succeed and I think we’ll find them. I feel there’s a pent-up demand for this kind of education,” says Cassels, who plans to keep a detailed log of the progress of the program. “We could be creating a new model for teaching in remote communities.” |