Quebec bar association videos aim to explain legal system in Nunavik
Professional association for lawyers releases videos in French, English, and Inuktitut to inform Inuit and increase their confidence in lawyers
The Quebec Bar Association has released four videos explaining aspects of the province’s legal system and the role lawyers play. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
To strengthen Indigenous citizens’ confidence in lawyers, the Quebec Bar Association has released four videos offering basic information on the service they provide.
This comes as a response to recommendation made in a 2022 report that studied the state of itinerant, or travelling, courts working in Nunavik communities.
The videos are available online in Inuktitut, French and English and feature Indigenous lawyer Fanny Wylde from Pikogan, a reserve in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
Each running for a minute or two, the videos address topics such as lawyers’ role in protecting their clients’ rights, the importance of the lawyers’ professional code of conduct, the bar association’s mission to ensure the public is protected, and how much it might cost to hire a lawyer.
According to the 2022 report on Nunavik’s itinerant courts by lawyer Jean-Claude Latraverse, “there is still a long road ahead” for the bar association to improve the service lawyers provide in the region.
Latraverse said there’s a lack of proper training for lawyers practicing in Nunavik. He acknowledged the three-hour training session the bar association offers lawyers, but called it “insufficient. The [training] is not focused on Inuit.”
The report had four recommendations for the bar association:
- Working with universities and Inuit organizations, organize obligatory training for lawyers to practice in Nunavik;
- Carry out an investigation in Nunavik into complaints Inuit have regarding services offered by lawyers;
- That lawyers be more “vigilant” in their billings to Indigenous clients;
- That the bar association create information campaigns in three languages French, English and Inuktitut concerning people’s rights within the legal system when represented by lawyers.
“It is hoped that these recommendations will be put in place as soon as possible,” Latraverse said.
A news release announcing the videos indicated the bar association’s plan is to foster justice in the North “by working closely with justice organizations and local communities.”
My friend is broke and in jail , on her 5th drunk driving charge.
It’s funny that society always needs guidance with common sense, for instance, we still expect an explanation of how a seatbelt works and pay that person up to 50K a year showing us to bend over and brace baby brace hard🤑
Given there is next to no justice in Nunavik with their “Travelling circus’s” this should be a very short video.